Kunais and Paintbrushes
by SilverKitsune2017
Summary: "A paintbrush is like a kunai. You have to know what you want to do with it, grip it properly, apply the right amount of pressure, and know when to release it to use it effectively" Sai smiles. When Kakashi had told Sasuke to find a hobby, he had scoffed. That was until he saw two beautiful, dark eyes and discovered all the fun connotations associated with kunais and paintbrushes.
1. Chapter 1

Kunais and Paintbrushes

 **Author's Note:** This is a Yaoi story. That means there will be at least one male x male romantic pairing. In this case, that will be Sasuke x Sai. If any of that bothers you, you might want to turn back now. For those of you still here, I hope you enjoy this story and reviews are always appreciated.

 **Story Notation:** Let's see if this "crackship" has any shippers.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing and make no profit off of this story.

Chapter 1

"You're joking." Sasuke stares at Kakashi in disbelief.

The silver haired Hokage had said a lot of crazy things before, but this was just ridiculous. Though the last Uchiha supposed that he should count his blessings that Kakashi had managed to get him pardoned in the first place. Let alone that his request was as mild as this. It was just such a _pointless_ one.

The CopyCat Ninja shakes his head. "No, I'm not joking." He smiles at Sasuke from behind his mask. "I really do feel that you could benefit from a hobby and it would probably go a long way towards humanizing you again with some of the other villagers." Uh huh.

Sasuke had been gone for a couple years. At nineteen, he felt like he was a completely different person than when he had first joined Team Seven. Probably because he was a different person, but he wasn't completely naïve.

It'd be stupid of him to assume that everyone else would be able to see that. Most people weren't Naruto or even Kakashi. Sasuke Ucihha had done a lot of horrible things on his quest for vengeance and frankly, he was lucky that their roles hadn't been reversed. Because if he was in the silver haired ninja's sandals, Sasuke would never have let himself back into the village after everything that he had done.

"And you really think my taking up painting is going to do that?" Sasuke shakes his head.

It wasn't that he was adverse to anything artistic in nature. He just had never really bothered with it. He had fingerpainted back at the Academy like everyone else and done a few drawings here and there. Most kids did. It was never as if he had displayed any real talent or deficiency in the area.

That meant that he had never given the matter any serious thought before. Why would he? It wasn't necessary for his revenge and it didn't have anything to do with redemption. Well at least that had been the case until about five minutes ago when Kakashi proposed his ridiculous idea.

Kakashi shrugs. "It might. If they see you creating something instead of destroying things." He smiles. "Besides, what's the worst that could happen? You find out that you have absolutely no artistic ability and waste some time?"

Well that was true. There really wasn't any "risk" involved in trying it and sadly, it wasn't as if the last Uchiha had anything else to do. He was tired of wandering and knew that Kakashi couldn't assign him missions that were at his skill level at the moment.

"I suppose that's true." Sasuke shrugs. "I'll just pick up a few art supplies and draw…something."

Kakashi chuckles. "Actually, I thought would be best…for you to engage in this activity with someone who has already mastered it." Damn it.

His former Sensei was meddling. Kakashi probably had some ridiculous idea that he was going to make _friends_ with whoever this artist was. The CopyCat Ninja had clearly lost his mind.

"And I take it, this isn't optional?" Sasuke sighs.

The Hokage shakes his head enthusiastically. "That's right." He winks at Sasuke. "I knew there was a reason why you were considered a genius at the Academy."

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. He hadn't been aware that his genius status had been revoked. Why was Kakashi using past tense?

"Were considered a genius?" His eyebrow climbs higher as he tries not to let himself be distracted by the scent of Kakashi's coffee. "Is that no longer the case?"

It was a nice office, the ninja thinks to himself. Kakashi's desk was piled high with paperwork, but there were quite a few flowers on his desk. Likely Ino's and Sakura's influence.

Other than the ungodly amount of clutter on said desk, it was neat. Clean and organized. Very much not like Kakashi, Sasuke observes wryly as he glances out the window a the sunny blue sky as a messenger hawk passes by on its way to deliver a scroll to someone.

Kakashi chuckles as if Sasuke's question amused him. "Well you're highly intelligent, but you're also extremely reckless at times." He shrugs good naturedly-naturedly. "So I wasn't really sure if that label was still accurate."

Sasuke rolls his eyes. Kakashi was always on the playful side. The Leaf did seem to breed a different kind of ninja. Intentionally or unintentionally, Sasuke had noticed Leaf Ninjas were in general significantly more perky than the average ninja from other regions.

"Whatever. So who are you assigning to babysit me?" For instance, Sasuke highly doubted that anyone in the Sand would have taken on the Sixth's Hokage's playful persona. "And don't bother sugarcoating it." The very idea of Gaara doing such a thing was laughable.

Kakashi couldn't seem to stop laughing. "Well Sai." That was never a good sign and that was just reaffirmed when the other ninja answered him.

Sai?! His fucking replacement?! Sasuke stares at Kakashi incredulously. He couldn't be serious!

"My replacement?!" The Sixth Hokage seriously didn't see how that was going to be an issue? "He actually agreed to this?" Sasuke couldn't fathom how such a thing was possible.

He had tried to have a go at Naruto right in front of Sai. Sai had blocked him. Which honestly, had surprised Sasuke at the time, but that was a matter for another day.

What mattered was that Sai had every reason to hate him. He was Sasuke's replacement on Team Seven and still kinda was. The last Uchiha had been wondering for a couple years and Sai had naturally stepped up to fill the gap caused by his absence. He was now closely bonded with Naruto and Sakura.

The two people who he had hurt the most. "Yes, he agreed." The last Uchiha was sure that he was utterly gaping at Kakashi, but he couldn't help it. "He was a bit surprised by the request at first naturally, but Naruto encouraged him a bit." Kakashi pauses and then smiles cheerfully. "That and I think he's eager to share his hobby with someone else and this will be an excellent team building exercise for the two of you."

Team building. God, Sasuke hated that phrase. The two words were completely innocent by themselves, but when you put them together…well you had a recipe for one cranky Uchiha!

"Right." Sasuke sighs because he knew that he wasn't getting out of this one. "Where can I find him?"

Kakashi smiles cheerfully again and the last Uchiha's blood ran cold at the sight. "Oh I told him just to head to the Uchiha District and that you would be joining him shortly." HE WHAT?!

"You can't just send people into my home without my consent!" Sasuke glares at his former instructor.

The CopyCat Ninja just smiles. "Sasuke, I'm Hokage now. You're one of my ninjas." Damn it. "I have some authority over you and I did get you a pardon. Just humor me on this." He smiles again. "I think that it will be good for you."

Sasuke was really, really beginning to hate that smile. It was worse than Sai's creepy one and Kakashi didn't have the excuse that the artist did. Kakashi hadn't had his emotions beaten out of him by ROOT. He could smile normally, if he wanted to. It was just obvious that the silver haired ninja preferred messing with people!

"And I'm thinking that a Chidori below the belt might be good for you." Sasuke glares at him.

Kakashi just chuckles. "Threatening me with my own attack." He shakes his head. "Such cruelty. Best be off. You don't want to keep him waiting too long."

* * *

Sasuke sighs and Flickers back to the Uchiha District. It had been rebuilt. Most likely that had been courtesy of Naruto's Shadow Clones because Sasuke hadn't authorized any reconstruction efforts. Well at least not after his original house was put back up.

After all, he did prefer four walls around him when given a choice. Like most ninjas, Sasuke was used to sleeping outdoors when the occasion demanded it. That didn't mean that he was going to do so by choice though.

"Ah there you are!" He hears a vaguely familiar voice call out to him.

Sasuke heads towards it and blinks at the strange sight that was Sai in the Uchiha District with his creepy smile. It probably would have been a nice smile, if it wasn't so _forced_.

Whatever. Sai's smile wasn't something that should matter to him. What mattered was convincing him to get Kakashi to back off.

"Hard to believe Kakashi actually managed to talk you into this." Sasuke glances at him up and down in what he hoped was a casual manner. "Then again, you've always been rather good at following orders."

His replacement certainly looked the part. Sai had grown out his hair to a degree. Well at least the bangs. Those pitch black locks were now hanging everywhere over his face, except for those dark eyes of his. Eyes darker than coal. Made even more vivid by the fact that Sai was actually fairer skinned than him and that was certainly saying something.

His facial features were delicate and elegant. Somehow the fact that his black jacket only came to below his ribcage and show chased his lithe torso only made them seem even more so. Sai was definitely skinny, but thankfully it appeared that he had actually eaten a few decent meals since they last met. (The last time that that he had briefly encountered Sai, he had been almost alarmingly skinny).

Sai smiles cheerfully at him. "Sasuke, the Hokage wants us to become friends." That large scroll on his back probably explained why Sai's shoulders were a lot more broad than Sasuke remembered them being. "Please don't make me kill you because you were being a bastard." He smiles pleasantly. "That is what Naruto calls you. Isn't it?" Too pleasantly.

Sasuke knew when he was being threatened and Sai actually thought he could threaten him. The very thought made him laugh. The only way he could see that happening was if Sai managed to trap him inside one of his paintings.

That seemed highly unlikely though. As skilled as Sai was, it took some time to draw that big a tiger. The tiger that was necessary for that technique to work and he didn't have any backup…unless you counted clones potentially. (Which Sasuke would slice through like butter).

"Kakashi wants a lot of things." Sasuke smirks. "Doesn't mean that he's going to get them, but yes." The last Uchiha didn't see a reason to lie about Naruto's stupid nickname for him. "The idiot does call me that, but you don't get to. You're a stranger."

Sai shoots him another cheerful smile. "Idiot. Yes, I have read that some friends give each other unflattering nicknames as a way of showing affectionate." Oh boy.

It wasn't the guy's fault, but he was clearly lagging behind when it came to social cues. Just another reason, why Sasuke was glad that he had killed Danzo. How many "Sais" were out there?

How many children and young ninjas had he beaten the emotions out of? It was clear that at least in Sai's case though, the elderly ninja hadn't been entirely successful. There was still a flicker of light in those eyes. A spark of a personality and that seemed to be growing by the day.

Ironic. That's what it was. "That's accurate enough." While his replacement was slowly finding himself and gaining more approval from their fellow Leaf Villagers, Sasuke was on the opposite end of the spectrum.

How had it come to this? He was once a happy child and a prodigy in his own right. He had been well liked, even when he didn't give a damn about the other villagers and now, he was essentially a bomb that everyone was waiting to go off.

"You look troubled." Sai gestures for Sasuke to follow him. "I find that art is very relaxing for me." He glances back at him. "Perhaps, it will be the same for you."

He had just been given a rather clumsy peptalk by a former member of ROOT. Sasuke really had fallen off the wagon, it seemed. Oh well. He'd just have to find a way to get back on it.

Sasuke shrugs and follows Sai outback. "I doubt it." It didn't escape Sasuke's notice that Sai had chosen to set up a few canvases by the Clan Hotsprings. "I'm better at destroying things than creating them."

That was the truth. When had been the last time that he had actually made something that wasn't a plan? Purely because he _could_ or _wanted_ to? For the life of him, the Uchiha man couldn't remember and that disturbed him for some reason.

"Well sometimes destruction results in creation." Sai smiles. "Nature is funny that way. A wildfire clears the way for a new generation of the forest to grow."

That was very poetic and everything, but Sasuke doubted that would be case for him. Still, he could tell Sai was trying and well it was a beautiful day. Even Sasuke had a hard time being too angry on a day like this.

It was too beautiful to be angry. The Sun was shining. The birds were chirping. The grass around the hot springs was green and lush and the wildflowers that dotted said grass were beautiful in their coloration and unassuming nature.

They were natural flowers. "I guess we'll see." The kind just that just grew naturally. Not the kind that had to be planted there and tended to by human hands in order to flourish. "What am I supposed to paint, anyway?"

Kakashi had never really said. Maybe, Sai knew. That would be like the Sixth Hokage to tell Sai what Sasuke's "mission" was, but not him.

Sai grins at him as he hands Sasuke a rather large paintbrush. Thankfully, it hadn't been dipped in paint yet or else it probably would have gotten all over his traveling cloak and that would have taken forever to clean! (Hell, it probably would be easier just to get a new one…if that did happen).

"Kakashi didn't give specific instructions." Sai smiles at him again. "So paint whatever you like."

Uh huh. That wasn't helpful. What the Hell was he supposed to paint?

Sasuke shakes his head as he looks at the blank canvas. Was Kakashi trying to do some sort of strange psych evaluation on him or something? There was probably a lot you could tell about someone by what they'd choose to put on a blank canvas.

The last Uchiha had never been as gifted as his brother at reading people outside of battle, but the symbolism was just too stark for him not to notice. A blank canvas. He had been that once.

A long time ago. "Well…what do you usually paint?" He had been an innocent child and so had Itachi. It was largely his fault, but Sasuke realized that his canvas hadn't really been painted by him.

It had been painted by almost everyone else. His father, definitely. Perhaps to some subtle degree, even his mother. Itachi had manipulated him out of love, but he had still manipulated him. Team Seven had tried to determine what went on his canvas. Orochimaru definitely had. Surely, Obito had wanted use him. Hell, even Naruto had never truly let Sasuke decide what he wanted to do. It was a bitter realization, but a profound one.

"Me?" Sai seemed disturbingly delighted by Sasuke's question. "People mostly." He smiles widely. "I find them fascinating."

Well that seemed as good an answer as any. "Alright then." He could paint people that he knew.

Now, that he was actually presented with a choice…he hadn't known what to do. Someone had always told him what to do or manipulated him into choosing to do whatever they wanted him to do. It was sad.

He couldn't even decide what to fucking paint without some sort of instruction. Sasuke sighs and grabs some black paint first. Well, at least he had an immediate goal.

"Black an interesting choice." Sai muses cheerfully. "Are you feeling depressed? That's a feeling that is often associated with black."

Sasuke resists the urge to punch Sai. It wasn't his fault that he lacked any sense of tact. Besides, he had just gotten back. Punching a fellow Leaf Ninja probably wouldn't look good.

"My feelings are of no consequence to you." He normally would have been far harsher. "So do us both a favor and don't try to analyze me." For some reason though, he couldn't.

It was probably those eyes. He'd never seen eyes that dark before. They were strangely _beautiful_ and that wasn't a word that he often associated with men (or really anyone).

Sai smiles pleasantly. "I'm not trying to analyze you. For that to be possible, I would have to understand myself first." Too pleasantly.

Sasuke feels his hands twitch as he grips the brush a bit too tightly. He was lucky that he didn't get splinters. Uchiha Prodigy or not, splinters were not an enjoyable experience.

"Uh huh." Sasuke shakes his head and starts painting.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd done this in any serious way. Had he ever? Probably not. Childish attempts at the Academy were all that were springing to mind, when he tried to recall painting.

Well no time like the present, he supposed. Sasuke had nothing better to do at the moment and his pride wouldn't allow him to suck at anything. Not even something as "trivial" in his mind as painting.

With a few rare exceptions, it wasn't a ninja skill. It wasn't a survival skill. Art was quite frankly not something that he thought about much, if ever.

Sai was watching him. "You seem to be drawing someone with dark hair." Which only made his competitive streak worse.

Of course, Sasuke was confident he could defeat Sai in a fight. Not in this though. He'd never be Sai's equal when it came artistic ability and he knew that and yet, well he wasn't going to disgrace himself by painting stick figures.

"Yes, I am." Obviously. "That would be why I reached for the black paint." And as if to prove his point, Sasuke dips his brush into the black paint again and glides it over the canvas.

He adds a dash of white to the black to lighten it up just a little bit. He might never be a great painter, but Itachi did deserve his best attempt anyway. He owed him at least that much.

Sai actually laughs. "You use sarcasm as a defense mechanism." So much for not being analyzed. Whatever.

"Think what you want." He'd finish this picture of Itachi and present it to Kakashi. "I'm only doing this to get the Hokage off my back." And maybe, that would satisfy the other ninja.

He could at least say that he tried. That was something, right? Well he had to say this much for painting, at least it allowed him to focus on something other than his screw ups for a few minutes.

Sasuke smiles slightly as about ten minutes later, he looks at his finished Itachi. It was far from a masterpiece, but at least it wasn't a stick figure. It should be good enough to get him out of this unusual situation.

"Well you have good instincts. You know how to manipulate paints at least on a basic level." Sasuke rolls his eyes at that. "And you do pay rather good attention to expressions. You did an excellent job on his eyes." Basic, his ass!

Sai sounded like a parent who was trying to give his child a review on their drawing. It shouldn't have mattered to Sasuke, but on some level he cared. He actually cared about what Sai thought of his painting and that was unsettling.

That meant this twisted little experiment had come to an end. "Thanks. Well let's take it back to Kakashi." Sasuke turns to head off.

"I wasn't done. Though your brushstrokes are too aggressive. Too broad." Sai pauses as if he wasn't sure how to say the next part nicely. "You were rushing."

Not really. That was more time than he had ever spent on painting before. "I was not." Sasuke rolls his eyes once more as he begins putting away his paint supplies.

Sai actually had the gall to stop him. The artist covers Sasuke's hand with his own and brings the brush back to the canvas with Sasuke's hand still firmly underneath his.

It was shocking really. Both that the artist was apparently suicidal enough to attempt this and how _soft_ the other man's hands were. Like silk. Probably because his specialty wasn't as rough and tumble as most Taijutsu and Ninjutsu Users.

"I suppose it would be helpful to put it in terms you'd understand better." Sai smiles as he forces Sasuke to make a few more intricate strokes. "Art is a lot like fighting or sex in a way."

Why Sasuke hadn't burned Sai's hand off for his offensive, he wasn't sure. Still, he allows the artist to guide his hand. He wasn't actually hurting him and he supposed he could tolerate the presumptuousness for the sake of hearing Sai's reasoning.

He watches as the black paint slides onto the canvas. "How do you figure?" Effortlessly. Somehow Sai's motions were effortless. In comparison, Sasuke felt like his own had been ridiculously awkward and crude.

"Well a paintbrush is a lot like a kunai really. You have to grip it the right way and know where you want it to go." He smiles happily. "And you have to know exactly how much pressure to apply and when to release it."

Sasuke supposed that was an accurate analogy. He'd never really thought about it that way before.

He nods his head. "Makes sense." Sasuke knew that he was likely going to regret asking, but curiosity was a powerful force. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but how is art like sex?"

Surprisingly, that wasn't a topic he discussed much. While Sasuke had walked in on far more than one lewd conversation or even coupling in the Sound Village, he had never participated or stuck around long enough to investigate the matter further.

He knew the basics. Sasuke knew what was required to restore his Clan and well, that was enough for him. He saw no reason to become a pervert like Kakashi, Jirayia, or God forbid…Orochimaru. (That man's obsession with snakes was frankly rather unhealthy)!

"Oh well the same things that I just said can be applied to sex." The artist continues smiling as if discussing this was the most natural thing in the world. "One should take their time during sex. You get better with practice and eventually, you figure out how to grasp, hold, and when to release your partner's dick. And of course, some _paintbrushes_ and _kunais_ are bigger than others. They also have different thickness levels."

Sasuke blinks and smacks Sai. "You're a god damn pervert!" It wasn't a hard smack. Sasuke was capable of breaking every bone in Sai's face if he wanted to.

The last Uchiha felt pathetic. Like he was some blushing Academy Girl or something. He couldn't believe he had actually smacked Sai for being a pervert, but he had.

"That hurt!" Sai rubs his cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were that shy about such matters." A bruise was rapidly forming on it. "I presumed someone who was as well traveled as you would be familiar with such things."

Sasuke was suddenly tempted to smack Sai again. "I'm perfectly familiar with the topic!" That didn't meant that he discussed _kunai sizes_ with other people on a regular basis though!

"Oh then is it the fact that I was speaking about an erotic encounter between two men?" He tilts his head thoughtfully. "Perhaps, I presumed too much. I just figured since you had kissed Naruto twice, that you were fine with such relationships."

How Sai had found out about those accidents, Sasuke wasn't sure. He did know one thing though. The artist was treading on very thin ice!

Sasuke glares at him. "I don't care, if two men are together. I don't care, if two women are together." That was so not the point! "The point is that you're a pervert!"

Sai seemed genuinely confused by his reaction. "You had Kakashi and Orochimaru as your instructors. One would think that you would be used to hearing about such things by now." Alright, that was a good point. "And besides, I'm sure you have a very large paintbrush!"

Sasuke twitches. He really needed to show Kakashi his stupid painting and get Sai out of his District. Preferably before he strangled the idiot for thinking about his paintbrush far too much for it to be normal!

"You're right." The Uchiha twitches again. "I should be used to it, but that doesn't make me like them." Another twitch. "And stop referring to that as a paintbrush!"

Sai smiles. "I never realized you where this shy. Interesting. I'll have to tell Naruto about this." He nods somberly.

That as it! Sasuke couldn't take it anymore! "You're so dead!" And with that, he lunges at Sai just as he sees a familiar head of silver hair Flicker into the District.

"Well you two are getting along about as well I expected." Kakashi smiles as he turns another page in his book.


	2. Chapter 2

Kunais and Paintbrushes

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. As I expected, this is something of a niche pairing. So I really do appreciate any of the feedback that I get on it. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It will be framed from multiple points of view.

Chapter 2

 _"Well you two are getting along about as well as can be expected."_ Sai hears a familiar voice chuckle as he manages to dodge Sasuke's attack.

He didn't know why the Uchiha was so upset. It had been a compliment! Honestly, people could be so confusing sometimes!

Sasuke twitches and glares at Kakashi. "This pervert won't stop talking about paintbrushes!" Well yes, Sai didn't see what the issue was though.

The Hokage had asked him to teach the last Uchiha about art. Kakashi seemed to believe that a hobby would be a good thing for Sasuke and Sai was inclined to agree. The most elusive member of Team Seven certainly needed to channel all of his passion into something more productive than violence for once!

"Sasuke, he's teaching you how to paint." The CopyCat Ninja chuckles as it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course, he's going to talk about paintbrushes."

Sai nods in agreement. After all, that was the truth. He still couldn't understand for the life of him what he had done to upset the other ninja so much. He had been complimenting him!

Sasuke rolls his eyes at Kakashi in disgust. "He meant the OTHER kind of paintbrush." Well yeah. He did.

The artist still didn't see the problem. Clearly, Sasuke needed a healthy outlet for all that pent up energy. Art and sex seemed like good options to him. Though he had never expected Sasuke to be this sexually repressed!

Kakashi blinks and then chuckles. "I see. You'll have to forgive him, Sasuke." For what?! What had he done wrong?! "As you know, Sai was a member of ROOT. The finer points of social grace still elude him."

Social grace? He didn't get it. What had he done wrong? Of course, Sai now understood why Naruto didn't like the nickname that he had given him. Sasuke though, well that didn't make any sense!

"Finer points?!" Sasuke was magnificent in his fury though. "Kakashi, people don't go around talking about stuff like that to strangers!" One of his eyes was flashing an ethereal shade of lavender and the other a primal shade of red in outrage.

Sai shakes his head as he smiles and looks around the District. "You're not a stranger though." It really was beautiful, especially after being rebuilt.

He normally drew people, but there was something rather charming about the place. Perhaps, it was how close all the buildings were and the proud, yet unassuming designs of the architecture. The clear sky and gorgeous hot springs might have also had something to do with it though.

"Barely." Sasuke rolls his eyes again.

It didn't help that they were owned by a gorgeous former Criminal Ninja. Sai was just beginning to truly understand emotions. Of course, he had a long way to go, but he had figured out what lust was.

That was an easy one. After all, it was one of the most basic and primal instincts. It was only natural to feel that way towards an attractive person and Sasuke was attractive.

Kakashi shakes his head and examines Sasuke's first painting. "Then you should look at this as an opportunity." He smiles at Sasuke. "You have an opportunity to get to know a comrade better and that never hurts."

Gender mattered very little to Sai. He knew that matches between men and women were the most common, but other matches did exist. Occasionally, women were attracted to other women and men were attracted to other men.

As was the case for him and Sasuke. Oh he was sure that the Uchiha would never admit it out loud at this point, but Sai wasn't naïve. He might not know how to express himself that well, but he was getting rather good at reading other people's emotions. The last Uchiha was at least subconsciously interested to some degree in men as romantic partners.

"I painted something." Sasuke shrugs as he glances at Kakashi warily. "I tried it. That's enough. I'll find another hobby." Sai doubted the Hokage was going to let him off that easily though.

Kakashi smiles as he looks at the picture. "You painted Itachi and did an exceptional job for a beginner." Yes, that's exactly what he thought too! "With some practice, you could become quite skill at this."

For a moment, Sai wonders if the Uchiha was going to hurt himself from rolling his eyes so much. Eyestrain was never a fun thing to suffer from. Then again, suffering in general was horribly unpleasant!

"With enough practice, I could become quite skilled at anything." Sasuke sounds less convinced, but that did bring to mind several intriguing images.

The other ninja was correct. Practice made perfect. Sai couldn't help, but wonder if Sasuke had actually kissed someone on purpose yet.

He doubted it. The former Criminal Ninja seemed to go out of his way to avoid bonds. The only reason he was still close to Naruto and to a lesser degree his teams was because they hadn't given up on him. Not that Sai could entirely blame the man.

Kakashi nods approvingly. "So give it another week or so and see what happens." The man certainly lived for danger it seemed.

Very few people would have been foolish enough to earn the wrath of Sasuke Uchiha. The Hokage was one of them and Sai didn't mind poking dragon either. It was enjoyable to watch Sasuke get riled up, really.

"Fine." Sasuke relents. "A week, but does it have to be with him?" He was so cruel sometimes, but Sai wasn't that easily daunted. "I can paint on my own." He could see it in the Uchiha's eyes.

There was a spark of desire. It was in the way that his gaze had lingered just a second or two too long over his torso and his eyes. Sasuke was likely gay or possibly bisexual.

Either way, Sai could work with that. Before this incident, he had always thought of Sasuke as a traitor. He had deserted his village and that was that. He should be punished, but now things are different.

Now, he could understand why Naruto and Sakura had wanted him back so badly. There was something deeply beautiful and wounded about the ninja at the same time. It was compelling.

Kakashi shakes his head as he hands Sasuke his book. "No. I think that having a partner during this exercise would be good for you." He smiles cheerfully. "Feel free to keep that, I have plenty of copies."

Like an injured panther or something. Beautiful and dangerous, but yet vulnerable. Maybe, he'd paint a black panther next. Yes, that sounded like a very good idea!

"And why would I need your trashy novel?" Sasuke twitches.

Kakashi places a hand over his heart as if he was mortally wounded. "That is not a trashy novel! That is art!" The older man sighs dramatically. "And it's supposed to provide you with plenty of inspiration for your paintings! I'll see the both of you later. Oh and Sai, make sure that he doesn't try to run off." And with that being said, Kakashi Flickers off.

Sasuke mutters some rather unflattering words about his teacher under his breath and Sai chuckles. Who knew that the last Uchiha had such a colorful vocabulary?

"I'll go and get us some art supplies." He smiles at Sasuke. "We wouldn't want to run out." He quickly heads off before Sasuke could protest because Sai could see the warning signs.

He was at risk of being left alone with a very agitated Uchiha. Yes, it was fun to provoke Sasuke, but Sai did have some survival instincts. He would never push Sasuke past the point of no return knowingly and well, they were brushing up close to that line. (Pun fully intended).

* * *

Sasuke twitches once Sai was out of sight. Unbelievable! He couldn't believe that Kakashi was actually going to leave him to be instructed by this pervert!

Actually, he could. Kakashi was the same way. He just preferred women and well, apparently Sai either liked men or he really loved messing with people. Sauske wasn't sure which was the case to be honest.

"He's way too obsessed with paintbrushes though." So that was why he mostly assumed it was the former. "Itachi is probably laughing at me." He'd be lying, if he wasn't going back and forth in his mind about the issue though.

Did it really matter? It was hardly the first time that Sasuke had been exposed to someone who preferred their own gender. The Sound had a rather liberal view of such things. No one batted an eyelash at anyone else's _preferences_ for the most part.

It was just most of those preferences were so deviant and even a bit frightening, Sasuke hadn't bothered to ask too many questions. The last thing he wanted was to get pulled into something.

"You should know better than that." Sasuke was soon interrupted from his thoughts when he senses three other people in the vicinity. "Karin." So he flings a kunai in her direction. "Suigetsu." Another at the water lover. "Jugo." And finally, one at the gentle giant.

"Sheesh!" Suigetsu dodges the kunai and heads over to Sasuke. "It's no wonder that you don't get many visitors!"

Whatever. It wasn't like Sasuke wanted anyone to come to his District. That was purely Kakashi's fault and well his nosy team's.

Thankfully, Taka was less pushy than Team Seven in general. Sasuke didn't think that he could have handled another Naruto. One was more than enough. Thank you, very much!

Karin nods in agreement. "We're your teammates, Sasuke." The red head pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "You shouldn't be throwing kunais at us, even if you know that we'll dodge them."

The only female member of Taka was slowly getting over her crush on him. Sasuke didn't know whether to be relieved or a bit annoyed. She was less sarcastic, when she wanted to seduce him. On the other hand, Sasuke just wasn't interested. It was a tough call.

"It's good to see you again." Jugo smiles at him. "So the Hokage asked you to take up painting?"

Jugo was by far his most reasonable comrade on any of his teams. Which was ironic considering that at any moment, he could snap. The gentle giant could snap and transform into a homicidal manic. And yet, somehow he was still the normal one.

Sasuke nods. "Yes, he did." The last Uchiha wasn't too happy about that fact.

Oh painting itself was fine. It gave him something to do and it was nice to do something with his hands besides destroy things, but of course nothing was ever that simple. Naturally, Kakashi had to assign a pervert to instruct him about art!

"Can we see it?!" That and Karin seemed disturbingly interested in his painting.

For some reason, Sasuke wasn't particularly eager to share it. It seemed too private. He knew that was ridiculous. It was no different than showing off a Jutsu and it wasn't as if Karin didn't know what Itachi had looked like anyway.

Suigetsu grins like a cat that had caught a canary. "Yeah!" He grabs the painting. "Let's see what our Great Leader can do!" Sasuke twitches as he glares at Suigetsu for that comment.

Of all the members of Taka, Suigetsu was the one that most questioned his authority. He supposed that was something of a given though. Karin had fancied herself in love with him and Jugo was just so loyal, that the Hozuki probably was going to be the most rebellious of the three no matter what.

Suigetsu took it to extremes though. There were days when Sasuke definitely understood why Orochimaru had put the water lover in that tank. He was a handful to put it mildly.

"Wow." He blinks as he examines it. "This is pretty good."

Jugo and Karin quickly take the opportunity to peak as well. Sasuke barely manages not to groan in frustration. Yes, there were definitely days where Suigetsu was just asking for it.

Today was just one of those days. Nothing was going right , it seemed. Between Sai's deviancy, Kakashi's meddling, and his meddling team, Sasuke was sure that things couldn't possibly get any worse.

* * *

Elsewhere Sai was off getting some art supplies. To his surprise, Naruto was there as well. That was strange.

"Dickless!" He smiles cheerfully at the blonde. "I wasn't aware that you were interested in art."

Naruto twitches and Sai smiles more. It was rather amusing to annoy the blonde. Really, it was something of a guilty pleasure. He could see why the last Uchiha indulged in the habit so much. It was most entertaining.

The hero of the Ninja World gives Sai a dirty look. "I told you to stop calling me that!" Which just makes Sai laugh.

"It's my nickname for you and how I express my friendly feelings towards your person." He smiles as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He had read once in a book that giving your friends nicknames, helped to establish a deeper bond. So he had nickname Naruto, Dickless.

Sai had also nicknamed Sakura. After all, it would be very bad manners to ignore his other teammate. Ugly. That's what he called her. Well until she threw one too many punches at him.

Naruto rolls his eyes. "Well it's considered bad manners to talk about another guy's stuff like that in public and I am NOT dickless!" He glares at Naruto.

After being on the receiving end of Sakura's punches, the artist could understand why Sasuke had left. That was one vicious woman! Though musings were interrupted by Naruto's rather loud protest.

His rather loud protest that was drawing entirely too much attention. Everyone in the store was now staring at them. It was bad enough that even Sai was beginning to feel rather uncomfortable about the whole situation and he rarely felt uncomfortable about anything!

"Really?" He tilts his head thoughtfully. "Is that why Sasuke got so upset?" Honestly, the rules of social etiquette was so confusing!

He never knew what was going to upset people and what wasn't. And to make it even more complicated, no two people were exactly alike. So what offended one person, might not offend another.

It was enough to make his head spin. Sai didn't think that he would ever fully understand social graces as Kakashi called them. Still, he was trying!

Naruto blinks. "What did you say to the bastard?" The blonde actually looked genuinely terrified on Sai's behalf. It was enough to make him want to laugh.

"I told him amongst other things, that I'm sure he has a very large paintbrush." Sai smiles pleasantly.

Perhaps, Naruto could explain to him exactly why that was frowned on. He still didn't understand why Sasuke had called him a pervert for that. The last Uchiha had used the word pervert like it was supposed to be some sort of insult.

Sai didn't think it was though. People were strangely bashful about natural desires. He'd had most of his emotions beaten out of him thanks to ROOT. So when the artist got them back, he had wanted (and still wanted) to experience the full rainbow of human emotion.

Lust and desire was just part of that. It wasn't anything to be ashamed of in his mind. So he didn't understand why everyone else got so flustered about the topic, even experienced ninjas like Sasuke and Naruto.

Naruot blinks again. He was in shock. "Um Sai, if you wanna live to see you're next birthday, I'd stop commenting on the bastard's paintbrush."

Sai frowned. How did anyone in this village ever manage to have a relationship. Everyone was so bashful.

Was this normal or more of a Leaf Village thing? The village seemed to have a stable enough population, so he could only assume that at some point most of the villagers tended to get over their shyness.

"I'll think about it." Sai smiles. "So what are you doing here anyway?"

Naruto beams at him. "Ah just picking up some art supplies for the Academy." Ah that made sense. "Iruka Sensei asked me too and I don't mind helping the guy out."

That also made sense. His bubbly blonde teammate seemed to have a soft spot for his former instructor. Sai understood the concept in theory, but not in practice.

He had no emotional attachment to Danzo. Danzo didn't see the people of ROOT as anything, but pawns. Even if Sai had been positively inclined towards the deceased ninja, it would have been beaten out of him and then numbed like most of his other emotions.

"I'll show you where they keep the best products." Sai smiles.

He felt little towards Yamato. Though he certainly didn't hate the man. He was just rather robotic in some ways. Awkward like Sai and as for Kakashi, well that almost felt like stealing the man from the original Team Seven. There was a mental block there.

"Alright!" Naruto beams!. "That'd be awesome!"

* * *

A few hours later, Sasuke sighs in relief as he notices that Team Taka was finally leaving. He really didn't need to hear all the art critiques of his work. This was especially the case since he knew damn well that the rest of Taka didn't have anymore artistic talent or appreciation than he did.

"You seem rather exhausted." Sasuke twitches as he hears a familiar voice call out to him.

It was Sai. He was back. Of course, he was back though. He had only gone to get art supplies and had said that he would return.

The only question really was what had taken him so long? That was a trip that Sai should have been able to make in a half hour or an hour tops. He had been gone for several hours. Not that Sasuke cared.

The Uchiha watches Sai with wary eyes. "I'm not." He didn't know what the artist might try to pull next and it was probably best to proceed with caution until he figured that out.

"If you say so." Sai smiles as he walks over to Sasuke.

He was carrying a lot of bags. Far more than the Uchiha thought could reasonably be art supplies. That's when he saw them.

Tomatoes. There were definitely tomatoes in those bags! Sai had gotten food! And tomatoes at that!

"You brought food." Sasuke blinks in surprise.

It was a bit presumptuous of Sai. Though the last Uchiha supposed that it did make sense. The artist was going to be visiting him regularly for the next week. Sooner or later, it was likely they would eat together.

Sai smiles and nods. "Yes, I did." He seems rather pleased by his own cleverness. "I bumped into Naruto while I was out shopping for supplies and he said you had a fondness for tomatoes."

Well what do you know? The loser finally did something right. Sasuke was half tempted to mark this day on the calendar, but he knew that was too childish to actually do. For now, he'd just smirk and enjoy the miracle.

"He was right." Sasuke actually smiles. "I do." Naruto could be an idiot sometimes, but his heart was in the right place.

Sai beams at him. "Excellent. I shall make us some tomato soup and something else to eat while you continue painting." Oh.

That was weird. Sai was offering to cook for him? The last Uchiha didn't even know that the artist could cook. Though he supposed it was only to be expected.

Danzo had probably trained ROOT Members in as many areas as possible. That likely included even "mundane" activities such as cooking. In this case though, that was a good thing.

"That sounds good." He was starving. "And I'm sorry about lunging at you earlier." He sighs. "It's not your fault that you lack any filter."

It was Danzo's. God only knows what that freak had actually done to Sai and the others. If the cretin had been willing to order the genocide of nearly an entire Clan, well he was capable of almost anything.

Maybe, Sasuke had been a little too harsh earlier. Sai would hopefully become less awkward in time. Hell, it might have even been Sai's way of attempting to be friendly or something like that.

Sai just smiles cheerfully at him. "Oh don't worry about it." Too cheerfully.

It was so forced and for a second, Sasuke's heart actually ached for the other man. He couldn't even smile naturally. What the Hell kind of horrors had he been subjected to?

Despite everything that Sasuke had been through, he could still smile. He could still smile genuinely on the rare occasion that he felt like doing so, but Sai just couldn't. No matter how hard he tried.

"Well I should have known better." Sasuke sighs and shakes his head. "You're not like Naruto. You literally can't help yourself."

This world was a sick one, Sasuke decides. There was still goodness in it, but it was buried so deeply. It was like Gaara had said, he'd been surrounded in darkness so long, that even the tiniest ray of light should be visible. So why was he having such a hard time following it?

It was all over now. Itachi was dead and he knew the truth. He'd been pardoned. Sasuke could in theory get on with his life and so could Sai, but neither of them seemed capable of doing so yet.

"Thank you, I think." Sai smiles more. "And it was meant as a compliment, you know?"

In a way, they fit together. Both of them were lost. Neither of them knew how to navigate the expectations of others at the moment.

While they might never be friends, that was something. At the very least, Sasuke decides they might be able to come to an understanding of sorts. Anything was possible.

"What did you mean as a compliment?" Sasuke looks at him, feeling more sympathetic towards the other man than he had earlier.

Sai beams at him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That I'm sure you have a very large paintbrush." And then the idiot had to go and ruin it!

"YOU DAMN PERVERT!" Sasuke reaches into one of the bags and hurls a tomato at Sai!

He probably shouldn't have done that. It was a waste of a perfectly good tomato really, but Sai really deserved that one. He should just count his blessings that it wasn't a kunai!


	3. Chapter 3

Kunais and Paintbrushes

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. We're going to stick with the week theme because suddenly I'm feeling rather inspired by it. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 3

 _A week._ Kakashi must be out of his mind. There was no way that he was going to survive this. That he was going to survive Sai's company for a whole week.

"Good morning!" Sai greets him with a cheerful smile as the last Uchiha woefully glances at the calendar.

It was only Monday. Somehow, he had to find a way not to kill this eccentric ninja for an entire week: seven days, 168 hours, 10,080 minutes, and 604,800 agonizing seconds! This was going to be the most difficult thing that Sasuke had ever done!

Sasuke sighs as he mentally braces himself. "Morning, Sai." He didn't think it qualified as good.

He had no idea how the artist did it, but somehow everything he said managed to have three meanings. The simplest interpretation, a profound one, and almost inevitably a more erotic one.

"You don't need to look so solemn." Sai smiles at him even more. "You've shown tremendous promise thus far when it comes to your painting."

Right. Apparently, Sai was going to start off normal today. Well Sasuke would take what he could get.

He honestly didn't know how to react to Sai's advances. Hell, Sasuke wasn't even sure they were _intended_ to be advances. Considering what he called Naruto, this might merely be Sai's very strange version of bonding with him.

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Thanks, but I'm not worried about my artistic prowess." Battle or visual prowess yes, artistic…not so much.

Sai laughs softly at that. "Well good. Being stressed would likely make your hands shake and then you wouldn't be able to grip the paintbrush properly." He nods energetically. "It is important to relax and enjoy ones self when indulging in art."

The last Uchiha raises an eyebrow. If it was anyone else, he probably wouldn't have thought much of those words. This was Sai though. There was a well hidden, but unmistakable innuendo buried in that statement.

"I'll keep that in mind." Sasuke rolls his eyes again.

Oh yeah. He was definitely going to get eyestrain from rolling his eyes this much. A whole week of eye rolling. Sheesh!

Sai nods at him approvingly. "So I thought that we could start with something simpler today." Sasuke raises an eyebrow at that.

He didn't know what the other meant by that. It could be a good thing or a bad thing. Though knowing Sai, it was probably a mix of both.

"What'd you have in mind?" He watches him carefully.

"Animals. I though that perhaps, you would paint an animal." He smiles as he gestures for Sasuke to head outside with him. "I figure that the hot springs can be our spot where we can do our paintings."

Oh. An animal. Well that wasn't bad. There was no way that Sai could make a sex joke out of him painting a cat or a dog, was there?

Nevermind. This was Sai. He could make a dirty joke out of anything. In some ways, the raven haired ninja was sure that his almost doppelganger was more of a deviant than Kakashi or even Jirayia.

He nods at that as he walks out to the hot springs with Sai. "Fine. Which animal?" Though Sasuke wouldn't go far enough to say that Sai was an Orochimaru Level Deviant.

That was a class all its own. Jirayia and Kakashi were both innocent Academy Students compared to his former instructor. Well if you could call Orochimaru that.

Sasuke wouldn't call the man his Sensei, but he had learned a lot from the Sannin. The Sannin who was now living in the Sound again and occasionally his favorite lapdog Kabuto would visit him.

"Whatever animal you wish." Sai smiles. "Art is about expression. There are no real rules to it." Uh huh.

Speaking of the lapdog, Kabuto was now of all things, running a freaking orphanage. Sasuke wasn't sure if he completely bought it, but he wasn't going to complain.

God knows the Leaf really needed to do a better job taking care of children. Whatever Kabuto's motivations were, he wasn't dumb enough to do something to those kids with the Leaf watching him like a hawk. Quite literally actually.

There were messenger hawks, ninja cats, ninja dogs, and who knows what else watching that place. "No rules, huh?" Sasuke doubted that Kabuto was going to step a single toe out of line, knowing that.

"No rules." Sai agrees with a cheerful nod.

That nod disrupted Sasuke's train of thoughts. How could somehow who displayed almost no emotion be overly cheerful at the same time? He supposed that it made sense though.

The Sun was shining brightly and the weather was warm. It almost seemed like the weather was mirroring Sai's mood. Luckily, it was only the sounds of birds chirping nearby and the yip of the occasional fox that Sasuke could pick up.

It hadn't been that long ago that his District had been reduced to nothing more than rubble. "Good to know." Just piles of broken buildings, overgrown gardens, and enough wildlife that one could have been forgiven for thinking they were actually in the forst.

A literal Forest of Death, Sasuke thinks to himself in disgust. The images of his slain family members still fresh in his mind. Of what this village had put Itachi through.

He knew at that moment, that he definitely wasn't in the mood to paint something furry. No. Something darker was in order. Something to suit his mood and with that in mind, he reaches for the purple paint.

"I like that look in your eye." Sai smiles. "It means you're focused and you have an idea."

Sasuke supposed that was accurate, but what it really meant was that he was angry. Though the last Uchiha wasn't going to tell the artist that. He was trying to become a better person and voicing these thoughts out loud, well that wasn't a very good way to go about it in his mind.

* * *

Meanwhile Team Taka was at the Ramen Shop with Naruto. The blonde was quite happy to show Sasuke's second team his favorite place. Maybe, it would help make them more normal.

"So yeah. Order whatever you want!" He grins. "On me!"

It was a strange group to say the least, but he liked Karin well enough and she was somehow related to him. Jugo was a nice guy. Well most of the time. And Suigetsu was Suigetsu.

He was kinda annoying, but he also annoyed the bastard. So he did at least have one redeeming feature and he had promised to teach Naruto how to swing a sword soon. So that was cool.

"Awesome!" Suigetsu immediately orders a seafood kind of ramen.

That didn't surprise him. Karin ordered chicken and Jugo beef. Again, the blonde felt like he should have seen this coming as he orders his own.

Karin smiles. "It was nice of you to treat us." She pauses. "So how long do you think it will be before Sasuke starts Chidoring Sai?"

Naruto slurps up some ramen and pauses as he considers that. "Not long." He had tried to strangle Sai more than once and he was way more patient than Sauske. "I'm not sure what was going through Kakashi's mind when he came up with this! It's pretty crazy!"

He loved the Ramen Shop. It smelled like well _home_. The Old Man and Ayame hadn't lost their magic touch when it came to cooking.

It was also a great place to bring friends or people for meetings. Though Kakashi had always told him that it was a bit informal for that latter option, the blonde didn't care. Everyone loved Ramen!

"He's probably Chidoring him as we speak." Suigetsu shrugs. "You guys all know what his temper is like." Yeah. Unfortunately, Naruto did.

The bastard had never been the most patient and friendly person. That was just made worse by the fact Sai literally didn't know how to keep his mouth shut. Oh boy. This was recipe for a complete disaster!

Jugo shakes his head in amusement. "Well Sasuke has been through a lot." He smiles and nibbles on his ramen. "Though he is working on controlling his temper. Perhaps, it will work out somehow."

Naruto gives Jugo an incredulous look. The gentle giant didn't actually believe that, did he? Pft. And this guy had supposedly traveled around with Sasuke for months on end. Hell, maybe even longer?

That was hard to believe. The blonde knew that Sasuke was trying to turn over a new leaf and everything, but some things were just too deeply ingrained in one's personality for that to be possible. This was one of them.

"It's Sasuke." He sighs dramatically. "That means he's going to be a bastard."

Karin rolls her eyes playfully. "And Sai is going to be Sai." Yeah and that meant all Hell was about to break loose.

It would be an absolute miracle if the Uchiha District was left standing by the end of the week. Hmm. Maybe, Naruto should start a betting pool. Yeah. That could be fun!

* * *

Back at the Uchiha District, Sai smiles as he watches Sasuke paint. He didn't know if the other man would ever be a master painter, though the artist suspected at the very least he would better at it than the average person.

That was of course, assuming Sasuke actually tried. Sai was afraid that he wasn't going to. It was becoming increasingly clear, that the Uchiha resented being told what to do on principle and that resentment might bleed over into painting.

"Purple is an unusual choice for an animal." Sai tilts his head thoughtfully.

Sasuke shrugs gracefully. "That's just his scale color." Everything about the other man was graceful, even his rage or boredom.

Scales though. That was interesting. What sorts of animals might Sasuke be painting that had scales. Perhaps, he was going to paint a dragon. Sai had told him that he could paint whatever animal he desired and Dragons were certainly an animal. Albeit a mythological one, but he digressed.

"Ah of course." Either way, it was fascinating to watch him paint. "Still an interesting choice. Scales. A lizard perhaps?" The way that he was so completely focused on a task. It was a trait that was rarely found outside of their class.

Ninjas. They were ninjas and that meant those hands he was using to paint with now, were more suitable to combat. Sai had seen the man wield lightning and a blade both with equal ease before.

It had been nothing short of a miracle that he had managed to block Sasuke from Naruto that one time. The man was just as fast as he was versatile. Naruto was more specialized, but Sasuke had become at least somewhat more of a generalist.

Sasuke scoffs at the idea. "No, it's not a lizard." Naruto preferred to rely on his Rasengan and Shadow Clones. If he was pushed, he would use Sage Mode or the Nine Tail's chakra.

He was more than willing to use kunais as well. Overall though, one could predict what Naruto was most likely to on the battlefield more often than not. Sai figured seventy percent was a safe number. It was that thirty percent that one had to watch out for and that was also why the blonde was nicknamed the Leaf's Number One Most Unpredictable, Knuckleheaded Ninja!

"What is it then?" He smiles pleasantly.

A book he read did say that it was important to smile. It made people free more at ease. So that's why he tried to smile as much as possible.

The Uchiha rolls his eyes. "It's obviously going to be a snake." He did that a lot.

Sai was just coming to associate the gesture with Sasuke really. It was a quirk, if you will. He didn't mind it. Lots of people had quirks.

"That does seem to be a rather large snake." He smiles.

SMACK! "You damn pervert!" Sai blinks and touches his cheek where Sasuke struck him.

"What was that for?!" That hurt. "All I did was say that's a very large snake." He tilts his head curiously.

* * *

Elsewhere Kakashi chuckles as he orders some sake with Guy. It was something they did at least once a week, if the two of them were able. They had been friends for as long as he could remember and ever since they were of age, they tried to squeeze in Sake Night!

"You actually told Sasuke that he should take up painting as a hobby?" Guy blinks in surprise.

Kakashi nods. He didn't think that it was that strange. Why were people so surprised?

Nevertheless, he smiles at his friend. "Sasuke needs a healthy outlet." The silver haired man pauses as he takes a swig of his sake, before continuing. "I can't exactly give him missions that are worthy of his skill level. It would spook the villagers too much." He shrugs.

Guy nods. "And giving him easy ones that he could do around the village, wouldn't be very youthful." The spandex lover also sighs. "He'd see it as an insult and even if he was willing to go along with it, the other villagers would be too terrified of him to give the boy a chance to prove himself again."

Exactly. So in the Hokage's mind, this was the perfectly compromise. It would give Sasuke something to do and it wouldn't scare the other citizens of the Leaf too much.

"Precisely." He smiles mischievously. "That and I have seen the way that he looks at a certain artist and Sai is far from shy." Kakashi chuckles.

"Do you really think that Sasuke has any interest in men though?" Guy tilts his head as if pondering this possibility for the first time.

Kakashi chuckles. Sasuke was Sasuke. It was hard to tell, if he ever actually _liked_ anyone. Still it was obvious when he didn't like someone.

"I assume so." The Hokage couldn't help, but smirk. "Judging by the way he looks at Sai and definitely hasn't expressed any interest in women that I'm aware of, I would say it's a fairly safe bet."

Guy looks at him with what Kakashi could only call concern. "I hope you know what you're doing." He pauses as if to warn him. "It's very dangerous to meddle with the love life of someone like Sasuke."

That was true, but the CopyCat Ninja was a firm believer in the old saying. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And right now, Sasuke was in desperate need of a gain.

Why not Sai? In a strange way, it made sense. His former student was prone to losing himself in his emotions and Sai was still trying to unlock his. They might very well balance each other out in the end.

"Don't worry so much." Kakashi cocks his own head to the side. "Oh and I believe we were at 46-46, so we have some tie breakers to do to reach 100!"

Guy smirks. "Alright. How about we armwrestle for this one?" Kakashi laughs. Well it seemed some things never changed (or at least some people didn't, like the Leaf's Green Beast)!

* * *

At that same moment, Sasuke sighs as he finishes painting Aoda. He really disliked having Sai hovering all over him like that. The artist was watching his every move and that made him far more nervous than it should have.

He didn't know why. Sasuke certainly didn't give a damn what the other ninja thought of him. It was inconsequential. As strong as Sai was, the last Uchiha knew that he could take him out with ease.

"Oh. I see." Sai smiles in that creepy smile of his. "This is your snake Summon, is it not?" Sasuke really, really had to teach this guy how to smile properly!

Not that he cared. He totally didn't. It was just annoying. That was it! It wasn't like he was trying to be Sai's friend or anything.

That would just be asking for it. He was already something of both a pariah and a God of Destruction in this village. Trying to fix Sai, before he even fixed himself was just asking for it.

He finds himself nodding despite his unease though. "Yes, it is." The Team Seven Member knew that it was childish, but he felt ridiculously proud of his latest attempt. It really did look like his Summon.

"I find it interesting that you chose to paint a snake." Not this again! "It's an unusual choice." Sai looks at his painting curiously.

Great. Sai was going to attempt to psychoanalyze him again. Did the ninja not understand that Sasuke's mind was a very dark place? A place that no one should go?

Hell. He didn't even fully understand himself and he didn't want to. For most of his life, he had been manipulated. Sometimes he had allowed himself to be manipulated in order to achieve his goals and what did he have to show for everything he had sacrificed? Almost nothing.

"I don't understand what's so shocking about me painting my Summon." Sasuke shrugs, hoping to avoid the worst of this informal therapy session. "The loser would probably paint his toads, if given a chance."

Sai chuckles as his eyes look to the beautiful blue sky. "That's true, but we both know that Dickless is a special case." Alright, that made Sasuke smirk. That nickname did make the Uchiha want to chuckle. "It's an unusual choice because most people would stick with a traditional dog or cat. The fact that you chose your Summons makes me wonder."

Oh boy. Not this! Sai was really going to do this. Honestly, he should just Chidori his replacement and be done with it. The other man was clearly asking for it, if he thought Sasuke was just going to stand here and let someone "diagnose" him!

"Sai, let it be." Sasuke glares at him. "Stop analyzing me!" For both of their sakes!

He shakes his head. "I don't think that you feel safe." Pft. Please. "Despite your formidable abilities, you're afraid of judgment. Understandable in your case. So naturally, a Summon was a security blanket of sorts."

As much as Sasuke hated to admit it, Sai did have a point. Not that he was **ever** going to let him know that! The artist would never let him live it down, if he did!

"Whatever." Sasuke tries to refrain from rolling his eyes for the hundredth time that day. "You don't know _anything_ about me."

"You also could have chosen Garuda." That was true. "Though a hawk usually represents freedom. Flight is a very liberating ability. You feel a bit chained and snakes are horribly misunderstood creatures." Sai pauses as if to collect his thoughts. "Most people think they're evil, but they aren't. They're also survivors and quite beautiful in their own way."

Wonderful. Now, Sai was using snakes as a metaphor for him. That was the last thing Sasuke needed. He wasn't here to be sweet talked. Which is what he was about sixty percent sure, that Sai was trying to do.

"And you could have chosen not to analyze me, like a smart person." Sasuke shrugs. "So?"

Sai sighs and reaches out to Sasuke. Yeah. That wasn't going to happen. He didn't really do the whole touching thing.

So he maneuvers away from the _"comforting gesture."_ "I would like to help you, Sasuke." Sai smiles at him. "I believe we could help each other really."

Sasuke rolls his eyes at that. The other man was clearly out of his mind. "By what? Comparing paintbrushes?" The artist couldn't help him. Hell, it was doubtful that anyone could, but especially not this stranger.

It didn't matter how attractive the stranger was or that he seemed to care for God knows what reason! Sasuke knew better than to get other people involved in redemption. Sakura had tried to, but he had managed to push her away from now. He had _tried_ to push Naruto away, but Naruto was Naruto.

There was no way that Sai was going to weasel his way in. "Well, if that's what you'd like, I'd certainly have no objection." Damn pervert!

"You're such a damn deviant!" Was he trying to get to Orochimaru Level of Deviancy? Because Sai was slowly, but surely making his way up the ladder!

"Are you some kind of masochist?" Did Sai want to be beaten? "Because that would explain so much!" It was starting to look like the only logical explanation.

Sai shakes his head. "No. I don't like pain." He smiles at Sasuke. "I have a higher tolerance for it than most, but I don't enjoy it." The artist shrugs. "It's a product of my ROOT Training."

That made Sasuke feel almost guilty. Most of Sai's behavior wasn't his fault. He really needed to remind himself of that.

In some ways, Sai was essentially a child. He really didn't know better. The other ninja was highly intelligent in many ways, but he lacked emotional intelligence. Then again, so did he. In that way, they were alike.

"I'm glad that I killed that bastard." Sasuke knew that it was foolish, but he suddenly felt rather vindictive towards Danzo.

He hated that bastard for what he had done to his family, but now he had a new reason to add to the list. In addition to wearing his family's corpses as armor, he had messed Sai up. Probably for life.

Would the other ninja ever truly be able to overcome his programming from ROOT? "Which bastard?" Sasuke didn't know. "You've killed a lot of people." That was true.

That was far more true than Sasuke even wanted to think about at the moment. Of course, it was a rare ninja who made it through their entire careers without killing _someone_.

Still, it was a rare ninja who managed to rack up the kind of body count that he had. Madara would be proud, Sasuke thinks to himself rather bitterly. His psychotic ancestor. The one loved the thrill of battle so much, that he actually liked the taste of his own blood.

"Danzo." That bastard.

The one who was arguably worse than Orochimaru. At least Orochimaru didn't pretend to be something he wasn't and was _attempting_ to turn over a new leaf.

Sasuke wasn't sure that the Sannin would be successful, but he had a better chance than Danzo did. Danzo was dead and that thought brought a smirk to his face. He had avenged his Clan against at least one person who had really wronged them.

"I'm flattered." Sai smiles in a far too cheerful manner. "You are actually outraged enough on my behalf, that you would curse a dead man."

Sasuke twitches. That was not what he meant. "CHIDORI!" Oh screw it! Sai had this coming to him, he thinks to himself as he charges at the other man.

Sai manages to dodge though and soon Sasuke found himself pinned the wall. "You really shouldn't throw such a powerful attack at someone, if you have no intention of hitting them with it." Sai smiles. "That defeats the purpose." But this time, it was a real smile and it took Sasuke's breath away.


	4. Chapter 4

Kunais and Paintbrushes

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I'm sorry that this update took awhile, but I got sidetracked by some of my other stories. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.

 **Chapter Notation:** Let's see if anyone can guess what Suigetsu saw in those notebooks.

Chapter 4

Tuesday. It was Tuesday. Which meant that Sai still had at least six days of instructing Sasuke about art, before the skittish Uchiha tried to kick him out of his District.

"Good morning, Sasuke." He smiles pleasantly at the Uchiha.

Well perhaps skittish was a bit of a stretch. Mostly, Sai was sure that Sasuke feared forming bonds with other people. He wasn't naturally shy. It was more like he was reclusive.

"Sai." Sasuke sighs and glances at him warily. "Can't you just tell Kakashi that you spent the week with me and I can give you paintings to show him?"

The other ninja shakes his head. No! That was simply unacceptable for a myriad of reasons!

The first of which was that he was as ninja. Ninjas should always complete their missions to the best of their abilities. Surely, Sasuke should be able to understand that!

Well, if the Uchiha couldn't understand it, Sai would just have to make him. "You know that I can't do that." The alterative was again, unacceptable!

Secondly, Sai didn't want their art lessons to stop. He was enjoying "messing" with Sasuke as Naruto might say. That and if it weren't for the Uchiha's lessons, their interaction would probably be limited at best.

"Well, it was worth a try." Sasuke lets out resigned sigh.

Third, less interaction meant less opportunities to observe the Uchiha. He was like a living painting come to life. A painting that was so beautifully done, Sai didn't think he could have even achieved such perfection.

He shakes his head. "As Naruto would say, suck it up Bastard." Sai grins at him and gestures towards the canvas. "Today, I want you to paint something that makes you happy."

"Did you really just say that?" Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "Please tell me that you're not turning into another Naruto."

That and it was probably crude to admit t, but part of that perfection was definitely Sasuke's ass. It was a shame that the other man favored loose clothing and Sai's view of it was somewhat obscured, but he had noticed anyway. That was an exceptionally well formed backside. There should be a shrine!

Sai laughs and shakes his head. "No, I'm not turning into another Naruto." Though maybe that was why the blonde had chased Sasuke all over the Five Nations.

Maybe, the blonde just liked the view of Sasuke's backside. Hmm. He'd have to ask his friend about that later. Right now, he had to focus. Sai had a job to do, after all.

"That's good to know." Sasuke sighs in relief. "You said that I had to paint something that made me happy?"

Sai nods. It would be good for the Uchiha to focus on something that put him in more pleasant mood. One that was less homicidal than the one that Sai had grown accustomed to associating with the other man.

Sai glances at the blank canvas. "That's right." He smiles at the other ninja. "Paint whatever you like as long as it makes you happy."

There was a certain freedom in art. You could do whatever you wanted. There was truly no right or wrong answer. That was one of the things that Sai liked most about it.

"Alright." Sasuke nods. "I guess I might as well get started."

The former ROOT Member nods approvingly. "That's right." He couldn't resist teasing him though. "I'm not going to leave until you paint something and I know how much you cherish your privacy."

It was a low blow, but that should encourage Sasuke to try. Nothing motivated the other man like the promise of solitude. It was quite sad really.

* * *

Kakashi chuckles as Naruto ambushes him in his office. He probably should have expected this in all honesty though. Of the blonde was going to be curious.

"So has the Bastard Chidoried Sai yet?" Naruto grins at him. "I bet he has." Though his amusement at the situation was a bit unexpected.

Apparently, Sai had given the blonde a rather unflattering nickname at some point. A nicknamed that his former student loathed and for good reason. The CopyCat Ninja certainly wouldn't have responded well to being called Dickless either.

The silver haired ninja shakes his head in response. "No. Not yet." Well at least not that he was aware of.

It was only Tuesday. He knew that Sasuke was likely furious with him, but Kakashi couldn't help it. Of all his students, Sasuke was the one most like him. Therefore, he was the one who needed meddled with most.

If left to his own devices, the last Uchiha was likely to completely close himself off to everyone except for Naruto and to varying degrees his teammates. Obviously, that wasn't an ideal outcome.

"That's not really reassuring, Kakashi Sensei." Naruto's grin fades.

The truth of the situation must have dawned on the blonde. Sai really was on an S-Class Mission. Perhaps, the most dangerous mission that Kakashi had ever assigned anyone to. The mission to socialize the most antisocial ninja of the Hidden Leaf!

He could only shrug in response. "It wasn't meant to be reassuring." Rather, it was meant to be accurate. "You know how Sasuke can be."

After all, if Sasuke was ever going to restore his Clan, he was going to have to socialize with someone. That or choose a surrogate. Though Kakashi knew enough about Orochimaru's experiments not to realize anything was possible.

He was almost certain that Sasuke had no interest in women. That or he was the latest bloomer that the silver haired ninja had ever seen. Either way, there was obviously _something_ there between Sasuke and Sai.

Whatever it was, should at least be explored. "Yeah. Maybe, I should go and check on them." It was worth a try.

What wasn't worth a try was Naruto meddling. At best, Sai would focus on teasing Naruto and Sasuke would become agitated. Agitated that more people were invading his personal space and an agitated Sasuke was a very dangerous Sasuke!

"Naruto, that's probably not a good idea." Kakashi tries to warn him, but it was too late.

The blonde had already darted out the door. The Sixth Hokage sighs and shakes his head. "Well at the very least, no one can ever accuse the Leaf of being boring." He laughs softly as he reopens his book and begins rereading his favorite passage.

If he sensed chakra signatures flaring, the CopyCat Ninja would get involved. Until then, he was just going to enjoy a nice book. There was no sense worrying about such things (for now, anyway).

* * *

Another day, another painting Sasuke thinks to himself. That was a rather strange thought, but it was true nonetheless. Idly, he wondered what Itachi would think of his new hobby.

Granted, he hadn't chosen it, but still. "I suppose that's good motivation." He was painting. Creating something instead of destroying it. "Getting you out of my hair." Itachi would probably be happy.

He reaches for some red paint. Sai had told him to paint something that made him happy. So that's what he was going to do.

On the plus side, his choice was simple to paint. Sasuke was certain that even an Academy Student could have managed an adequate representation of what he was doing. So obviously, he could handle it.

"Shame." Sai shakes his head as though he was lamenting something. "It is very nice hair. I should very much like to mess with it."

Sai was commenting on his _hair_! That was weird. Nevermind. The last Uchiha decides this was probably progress in a way.

After all, it was better than the artist commenting on his _paintbrush_ or his _kunai_. The other ninja was taking the first steps towards having normal conversations with other people. While it was still awkward and possibly a flirtation attempt, Sasuke wasn't going to snub Sai for making the attempt.

"Thanks." Kinda. "But seriously, don't." His hair was naturally spiky, if left alone.

Honestly, it was a bit strange how changed its shape in battle, but the moment someone touched it or got it wet…well it was a different story. Hmm. Did Madara have that problem?

Actually, now that he thought about it, how the Hell did Madara care for that mane of hair in the first place? Naruto often said that it reminded him of a porcupine, but Sasuke thought it was like a lion's mane. Oh wait.

He was getting off track here. "Why are you adverse to someone touching your hair?" He needed to focus!

Focus on his painting! The sooner he got done with this thing, the sooner Sai would leave. Then Sasuke would stop pondering these strange things. The artist had a bizarre effect on him. Sai made him more whimsical, he supposed.

"I'm not adverse to someone touching my hair in general." He adds a splash of green paint to the canvas. "I just don't see point in letting strangers do so."

That should signal that Sai needed to back off. Sasuke didn't like it, but his thoughts had been taking some inappropriate turns in relation to the artist lately. Turns that he really needed to reverse.

Sai smiles another genuine smile and Sasuke felt his resolve weakening. "We aren't strangers though." That was technically true and also the problem.

His emotions around Sai were intense and they changed as swiftly as the tides. Generally though, Sasuke alternated somewhere between sympathy, anger, and lust. That last part was the most problematic.

"We're close enough." He shakes his head and returns back to his painting.

While such relationships were certainly in the minority, they weren't completely unheard of. Hell, the _structure_ of the Ninja World made such relationships more likely. After all, male ninjas outnumbered female ninjas by a margin of two to one (and in some areas even more).

That kind of ratio was almost designed to encourage two men to be together. Though Sasuke supposed that the reverse was also true to an extent. When women were outnumbered in such a way, perhaps they would also seek comfort from other women.

Wait. He was getting distracted again. "That may be true, but it doesn't have to that way." Sai places his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and smiles at him again. "Does it?" Those genuine smiles were going to be the death of him.

* * *

Meanwhile Taka makes their way to the Sound Village. They were on a special mission to get some medical supplies. The Sound and Leaf were now training partners.

"Do you really think that he's changed?" Sugietsu eyes Karin and Jugo skeptically.

Jugo shrugs in response. "Difficult to say, but those supplies will help a lot of people either way." Well yeah. That was true.

They'd be arriving in a few minutes and suffice to say, the sword lover was not particularly happy about that fact. Though the Hozuki doubted anyone could really blame him. Who would want to go back to the place where they had been locked up in a tank?

Yeah. That's what he thought. He didn't really buy this whole Orochimaru was a good guy thing anymore, but meh. Suigetsu wasn't in charge. He was just following orders. That and it was probably better to keep a close eye on the creep.

"If he was really a threat, I doubt that Kakashi would trade with him." Karin pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose as they enter the village. "So stop being such a scaredy cat!"

Scaredy Cat? Excuse a Moi? He was not a scaredy cat! He could so totally kick Orochimaru's ass, if he wanted to!

"Karin, Suigetsu, stop bickering." Jugo sighs as he heads into the village and towards Orochimaru's lab. "We've got a job to do."

Yeah. That was true. The sooner they checked in on Orochimaru, the sooner they could get out of there. Good point.

"Coming!" Suigetsu follows after the gentle giant with Karin in tow.

Orochimaru smirks when he sees them and gestures towards three large crates. "Those are for the Leaf." The sword lover really didn't care for that smirk.

It was so utterly reptilian. Snakes and stuff like that creeped him out. Though Suigetsu did make an exception for Aoda.

Aoda was Sasuke's favorite Snake Summon. In reality, he was just a golden retriever trapped in the body of a giant snake though. Ninja Cats were cuter, but Aoda was really loyal.

"Great!" Karin grabs a crate. "Jugo, can you give Orochimaru his payment?"

Jugo nods and hands Orochimaru a large pouch filled with money. "Here. Your payment. As promised." Suigetsu didn't even wanna know how much money they had just gave this creep.

Though he couldn't argue with the Leaf's logic. If there was anyone who had medical supplies on the cheap, it was Orochimaru. After all, most villages wouldn't trade with the Sound yet. So the Leaf had something of a monopoly.

"Thank you." He smirks. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Suigetsu happens to glance at one of Orochimaru's notebooks and blinks. This guy was really messing with some stuff he shouldn't be messing with. Oh well. It wasn't any of his business.

"Uh huh." He nods as he grabs his crate. "Well cya later, Slimy!" Suigetsu bounds off.

Orochimaru twitches as he watches Karin and Jugo join him. "I am not slimy!" And Suigetsu just laughs as they made their getaway. (He was too)!

* * *

Sai knew that he was taking a gamble, but it was one he felt was necessary. How else was he ever going to get Sasuke to trust him, if he didn't make himself vulnerable at first? He had read that somewhere in a book once .

"Maybe." Sasuke shrugs as he gestures towards his painting. "I finished."

Obviously, the Uchiha was using his painting as a distraction. Still, Sai could humor him. He could pretend that he didn't realize that fact. For Sasuke's sake.

He smiles and looks at the painting. "A tomato?" Tomatoes made him that happy? "Naruto said that they were your favorite food, but I didn't think they meant that much to you."

Interesting. Was the tomato a metaphor for something? Sai had a hard believing that Sasuke was really the sort ninja. The sort of ninja who was so straightforward about his feelings.

"Yes, a tomato." Sasuke nods as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and maybe, to him it was.

Sai chuckles as he looks at it. "Well it is a fine tomato." Sasuke rolls his eyes at that. "And very red, as tomatoes are." He snorts at that.

He was a bit of an enigma really. A mystery wrapped inside a puzzle. In some ways, the other man was so open. In other ways, Sai didn't have the damnest idea what went on inside his head.

"Yes, most tomatoes are red." Sasuke mutters.

Sai tilts his head and smiles slyly. "Did you ever let Naruto play with your hair?" He knew that it was probably wrong to wind his student up in such a way, but he couldn't resist.

As soon as the blonde was mentioned, one got a reaction out of Sasuke. Whether it was positive or negative mattered little to Sai, he just liked watching the Uchiha get wound up about something.

Well in this case, it was more of a someone. He just hoped that the last Uchiha didn't have any real romantic feelings towards the blonde. That would be most unfortunately considering the fact that Sai still had every intention of seducing Sasuke.

"No." Another eye roll. "Of course not!" Good.

If Sasuke wouldn't allow Naruto to play with his hair, then he probably wouldn't allow him do other things either. This pleased Sai. It was probably selfish, but he didn't feel like sharing.

He smirks at that. "Good. I'm glad to hear it." The artist nods his head. "Besides you don't want to be Dickless's lover anyway."

Sasuke blinks. He was torn between laughing and Chidoring Sai for that comment. He couldn't believe the other man had said something so _ridiculous_! The idea of taking a male lover might not have occurred to him much before meeting Sai, but Sasuke was most assuredly not in any hurry to take Naruto to his bed.

That idiot barely understood Kunais and Pouches. Sasuke wasn't about to explain to him about Kunais and Paintbrushes! He couldn't suppress a shudder at that thought.

"The nickname is funny, but starting to disturb me a bit." Sasuke shivers, once more. "You spend entirely too much time thinking about Naruto's paintbrush."

Sai laughs and nods. "I suppose you're right." He smiles at Sasuke in a rather predatory manner. "He is a good friend, but I'm just not attracted to him in that manner."

Right. Well that was good to know. "Uh huh." Not that Sasuke cared. He totally didn't care whether or not Sai wanted to show off his kunai to Naruto.

Sai smiles and grabs Sasuke by the hand. The Uchiha was about to demand an explanation for that, but the artist Flickers them inside Sasuke's home before he could.

"Besides, I'd much rather focus on your paintbrush anyway." Oh. "I know that must seem strange to you. We're little more than strangers as you have pointed out." Yeah. It did seem strange. "But I feel drawn to you nonetheless."

Sasuke didn't know how two respond to that. He was curious and if nothing else, Sai was definitely good at keeping secrets. It was unlikely that he'd tell anyone about their time together. Still, did he really want to risk that?

Risk getting close to someone? He was close to Naruto, but Naruto was Naruto. He was simply too stubborn to die. Almost everyone else that he cared about was dead. The only exceptions to varying degrees were the rest of Team Seven and Taka.

He shakes his head. "That's…touching, Sai." It really was. "Though I think you're smart enough to realize why getting involved with me isn't a wise decision."

That was probably the understatement of the century. There were so many reasons why no one should be foolish enough to bind themselves to him romantically. There must have been a million or more of them, actually.

None of that seemed to matter to Sai though. "I never said that it was wise, just that I was drawn to you." He caresses Sasuke's cheek.

It had been a long time since anyone had touched Sasuke like that. Not a touch designed to inflict pain or to seduce him, but to offer comfortable. Well save for Naruto (and alright, Sasuke knew that Sai probably was trying to seduce him as well).

"Well then if you know that, I wouldn't act on it." Sasuke takes a few steps back, but shockingly Sai wouldn't let him.

They both knew that Sasuke could have escaped the other man's hold easily, but he didn't. Maybe, it was because he was shocked, but Sasuke wanted to know what the artist would do next.

On second thought, it was definitely the shock. That was the only logical explanation for why, Sasuke hadn't freed himself yet. Curiosity could be lethal sometimes.

Sai just smiles at him though pulls Sasuke closer. "Didn't Itachi call you his foolish little brother?" Sasuke wasn't sure how Sai knew about that, probably intelligence for Danzo or maybe, Naruto had opened his big fat mouth. "Why don't we be foolish together?" He supposed it didn't matter.

What mattered was coming up with some sort of coherent response to that question. "Because it's a bad idea." One that didn't make him sound like he was five.

Sadly, that was becoming increasingly difficult to come by. Sasuke's brain just wasn't working the way it was supposed to. It must have been the other ninja's proximity.

"That's true, but so was teaching you how to paint." He smiles. "And that turned out rather well. You make a fine tomato." Sai smiles more and captures his lips in a heated kiss.

Sasuke had never been kissed like this before. Sadly, the only other times that he had been kissed were accidents. That wasn't something he had dwelled on much before now, but now that he had a taste of the real thing, he almost mourned his stupidity.

How could he have missed out on this? Was everyone as gifted as Sai at kissing or was that just something that was unique to him? Whatever the case, he soon finds himself moaning onto the kiss and returning it.

"You're Sharingan activated." Sai muses, breaking the kiss briefly to trace his thumb along Sasuke's lower lip.

Oh that. That was embarrassing. "Nevermind." Sasuke sucks on Sai's thumb briefly before kissing him. "Doesn't matter."

He'd worry about the implications later. For now, Sasuke would just enjoy this feeling. Who knew that the simple act of moving your mouth against someone else's could feel this good?

"If you say so." Sai smiles slyly between kisses. "You taste like red wine."

Right. "You smell like paint and you taste like melted chocolate." Two could play that game.

His description seems to amuse Sai though. "Well the former is only to be expected. Though I'll take the latter as a compliment." And with that, he resumes kissing Sasuke.

He should have Chidori the Hell out of Sai for kissing him, but he didn't. Kissing was nice. He'd just have to deal with the consequences later. Much later.


	5. Chapter 5

Kunais and Paintbrushes

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. If you have any requests for painting ideas, feel free to let me know. And I'll see if I can't incorporate them into the story somehow. Happy reading!

 **Viewers' Choice:** There are essentially three options for this story that I can see as far as it pertains to the ending. **Majority will rule.**

 **A)** We keep the story as casual as possible and the revival of the Uchiha Clan isn't brought into this.

 **B)** A mostly casual story, but with surrogacy used to revive the Clan.

 **C)** Some medical experimentation allows for Sasuke and Sai to both be the biological fathers of their children. Both partners will remain male in this option, but it's also not a mpreg. With that being said, I don't want to give too much away.

Chapter 5

 _It was Wednesday_. Normally, such things meant little to Sai. The day of the week generally made little difference to him other than mission assignments, but today was different.

"Sasuke?" He calls out softly.

Today was the day that he would find out how Sasuke would react to Tuesday's kisses. The other ninja had had the entire night to think over the events of the day before. By now, Sasuke had likely come to some sort of decision.

The last Uchiha strides over to meet him. Hmm. It seemed whatever the other man had decided, he was going to face what was between them head on. Admirable, really.

"Sai, tell Kakashi to fuck off or I'll do it for you." He shakes his head. "This isn't about painting anymore and we both know it."

Sasuke was going to be difficult. That was unfortunate. Oh well. He was used to dealing with difficult teammates. He could handle this.

After all, Sasuke was much easier to manage than Naruto and Sakura in his own way. At least the Uchiha's reactions were mostly predictable and he was quieter. Though he was also a lot more violent. Sai would have to handle this matter with care.

"And what reason would you suggest that I give him for ceasing your lessons early?" Perhaps, embarrassment could be wielded as an effective tool in this context. "I have a hard time imagining that you want to tell him the truth."

Sasuke twitches. Obviously, the last Uchiha was not feeling particularly pleased with Sai's response. "And what's the truth?" Sadly, this was what their blonde teammate might refer to as tough love.

Sai thought that was rather obvious. Though he didn't mind pointing it out for Sasuke. Emotions seemed to confuse the Uchiha almost as much as they did him.

"That you are sexually attracted to me and you're afraid of acting on it." Sai nods sagely as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

Another twitch. Sasuke did that a lot around him. "I'm not afraid of anything." Well at least the other man wasn't bothering to deny it.

That was a good start. Honestly, the artist had expected that Sasuke would pretend he wasn't attracted to him when he obviously was. Sasuke wouldn't have kissed him that way, if he wasn't.

"Then you are a very good actor." Ridiculously so. "What is it that is causing you to hesitate?" It wasn't like Sasuke.

Whether one liked the last Uchiha or not, one thing was clear about him. The man usually knew exactly what he wanted to do and he didn't hesitate to do it. No matter what the consequences might be. He was much like Naruto in that respect.

"I think you damn well know why!" Sasuke snaps at him.

No. He didn't. Not really. There were of course a myriad of reasons that might be causing Sasuke to behavior in this very not Sasuke-like way though.

He smiles and caresses Sasuke's cheek. "Humor me. Pretend that I'm Naruto and that you need to spell out things very clearly." Sasuke snorts at that description, but it seems to do the trick.

"Alright." He glances at Sai. "I'm a mess. Almost everyone in the ninja world is terrified of me and for good reason." His eyes were so wary. It made the artist's heart ache for him. "You should want nothing to do with me."

Hmm. That wasn't the reason that Sai had expected, but he takes it as a good sign. "Kakashi and Naruto trust you. That's good enough for me." He takes Sasuke's hand and drags him inside the house. "So you'll just have to learn to trust yourself.

That was likely easier said than done and Sai knew it. Still, there was no reason why he couldn't accelerate the process.

"You're a masochist." Sasuke looks at Sai as if he had grown a second head.

That was an interesting theory. No. Sai didn't think that he enjoyed pain. He had just learned to live with it. Though that wasn't what they should be focusing on at the moment.

He pushes Sasuke onto the couch. "No. I don't think so." And sits in his lap.

What they should be focusing on at the moment was them in general and repairing Sasuke's self-image. That was what they should be focusing on.

"You have to be or you're trying to fuck with my mind." His eyes narrow. "Some sort of strange psychological evaluation maybe."

Sai shakes his head. No. He wasn't trying to play with Sasuke. Well at least not in that respect anyway.

"Sasuke, I am trying to fuck you." Sai smiles as he takes in the beautiful form that was his student. "Not in that way though. My way is much more enjoyable."

The Uchiha blinks. Sai was quite certain that the other man was used to people hitting on him, but probably not so directly. This was particularly true after the war when everyone had seen what he could do.

That didn't bother Sai though. By all rational measures, he shouldn't be alive now. He was though and well, one should live life to the fullest.

"You're absolutely crazy." Sasuke blinks.

Sai nods his head. "That might be accurate, but so are most ninjas." He smiles and hands Sasuke a paintbrush. "And you're absolutely beautiful. I want you to paint something you find beautiful today."

* * *

"I'm telling you, it was pretty freaky." Suigetsu looks at Kakashi.

Kakashi sighs. Well perhaps, he should have seen this coming. Though honestly, he couldn't say that this was necessarily something Orochimaru was doing with evil intentions. It might actually end up doing a lot of good.

Well if it was carefully managed, anyway. The silver haired ninja shudders to think what would happen, if that wasn't the case. Untold chaos could potentially rock the Five Nations!

He shakes his head. "I shall speak to him." There was really no way around it.

The CopyCat Ninja was going to have to speak with Orochimaru. That thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. In all honesty, he still hadn't forgiven the Sannin for luring one of his students away.

Assuming that he was willing to overlook that, the Sannin had a long list of sins he had committed. Some of his medical research would make even the Council cringe. In fact, it HAD made the Council cringe. That was why Orochimaru was banished from the Leaf in the first place!

"Yeah. That's gotta suck." Suigetsu sighs. "I didn't see all of it, but it looked pretty thorough to me."

He wished that Suigetsu had the foresight to grab all those plans. In the end though, it was probably better that he didn't. Orochimaru didn't know that Kakashi knew what he was up to yet. That was a fact that could be used to their advantage.

"Yes, it does." He sighs heavily. "You may go now, Suigetsu."

Suigetsu nods and swiftly departs, leaving behind one very perplexed Hokage. He had thought things would be easier now. Now, that the war was over, but apparently he had been wrong.

So very wrong. The Hokage truly was at a loss for what he was going to do about this situation. There were no easy answers when it came to the Sannin.

"Now, I understand why Tsunade was so fond of drinking." Who wouldn't when they had to deal with issues like these?!

As much as he knew that Naruto wanted to be Hokage, it was probably better that Tsunade had granted him the position as a placeholder. The blonde wasn't ready for situations like this because Kakashi barely was.

When it came to marching into battle and protecting his friends, Naruto was second to none. When it came to strategy and seeing the potential consequences of one's actions, well that's where he fell short.

"It's up to me now." He sighs.

* * *

It was only Wednesday and Sai had already wanted to be his lover? Sasuke had no idea how that had happened, especially so quickly.

He said that it wasn't a head game. That it wasn't some sort of test and against Sasuke's better judgment, he found himself trusting the artist's word. That didn't mean that he had any idea what to do about it though.

"If we do anything, it stays between us?" He didn't want to damage Sai's reputation. "I don't want to ruin your life." Sasuke also didn't want to be alone.

He knew that was a bit overdramatic of course. He had his teams for friendship. Sasuke Uchiha wasn't alone, but he also didn't have a partner and that was something that on some level he did want.

Sai's kisses had made that clear. It might have been at a subconscious level before, but it had been brought to the surface now. Why shouldn't he take what Sai was freely offering?

It wasn't as though Sai was involved with anyone else. "I don't mind keeping our relationship a secret, if that's what you prefer." It wasn't like Sasuke was stealing him from anyone.

Sai also didn't have a biological family. He didn't have to worry about facing their disapproval, if he took a male lover. So that was a plus in a rather morbid way.

"I'd prefer it." Sasuke nods.

Sai smiles. "Well as long as you acknowledge that you do have desires for me, I will consider that progress." Sai definitely had a one tracked mind, the last Uchiha notes with mild amusement.

It was nothing short of amazing that someone who had been denied of bonds for most of their life, could transform so quickly. Of course, he knew that the artist still had a long way to go. The truth of the matter though was that Sai was far closer to assimilation than he was to redemption.

"You're impossible." Sasuke shake his head in disbelief. "What did you want me to paint again?" He arches an eyebrow.

Stalling for time wasn't the most dignified method to deal with situations, but it could be an effective one. Sai was right. Sasuke did just acknowledge his attraction to the other man. There would be no going back now.

Sai chuckles. "I want you to paint something beautiful." He smiles at him.

Right. Something beautiful. Sai always came up with the weirdest assignments. Whatever.

"Alright." Sasuke sighs as they quickly head outside towards the hot springs.

After all, that's where Sai had decided his lessons would take place. Honestly, Sasuke was pretty sure the artist was just hoping to drag him into the hot springs. He wasn't going to argue though.

Sai nods approvingly. Seemingly, very happy that the Uchiha was being so cooperative. "Just something you find beautiful." He smiles at him again. "It can be anything."

That man's smile and his kiss was going to be the death of him, Sasuke thinks to himself as he sighs and dips his paintbrush in some paint. It was times like these, that he wished he had dragged out Danzo's death further.

Made the bastard suffer more. He deserved it. Danzo deserved it for what he had done to his family, to Sai, and all the other people's lives that he had ruined.

"You're doing it again." Sai tsks.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow in response. "What?" What was he supposedly doing again?

"You're brooding and not focusing on your painting." Oh. Well that was _technically_ accurate. "Do you need help focusing?" Not that Sasuke was going to **admit** that!

Help him focus? Sasuke wasn't really sure how Sai would do that. The artist brought out many emotions in him. Focusing wasn't one of them.

Sasuke was almost afraid to ask, but he would anyway. "How would you help me focus?" He eyes the other man warily.

"Well I was thinking a blowjob." He smiles cheerfully. "From what I gather, most men are quite fond of them."

 _ **THUD!**_ Sasuke falls over on his ass in shock. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but that wasn't it.

Though he probably should have. Sai was obviously a deviant. It might not be entirely his fault, but that didn't change the fact that he obviously was a deviant of the highest order.

"YOU'RE SUCH A DAMN PERVERT!" He growls.

Sai looks at him in confusion. "So that's a no." He smiles innocently. "Maybe, you prefer to give them instead of receive them?"

Oh that was it! Sasuke feels himself twitch. "I believe that was your way of asking me to Chidori your dick!" This guy was really asking for it!

The most unbelievable thing about it all was somehow Sai managed to look innocent. It was like he was a child that really didn't know any better. And Sasuke supposed in a way, that was probably accurate.

"No! I'll pass on that." He blinks. "I'm not opposed to a certain amount of aggression in the bedroom, but I draw the line at lethal attacks to my genital region."

* * *

Back at the Sound, Orochimaru was still hard at work. Hard at work on his latest project. This could truly change everything.

"You know, if the Leaf finds out about this…they won't be happy." Kabuto sighs as he walks over to his Sensei.

Orochimaru nods in acknowledgement. No. They wouldn't be happy about it. At least not at first. Though he imagined the practical implications would soon win them over.

"Perhaps not initially." That much he was freely willing to concede. "Though I never thought they would pardon us either. One never knows what the future might hold."

The future held a lot of promise in his mind. Though he knew he would have to play his cards just right to truly pull this off. Which was what Orochimaru fully intended to do.

Kabuto pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and his eyes scan the room warily. "I do have to admit that the possibility is a rather intriguing one." Indeed it was. "Is it really worth the risk of getting caught though?"

The Sannin nods. It was worth the risk. "Yes, it is." That much he was sure of.

Sadly, the only difference between whether or not someone was labeled a genius or insane was public acceptance. In time, he knew that the public would come to realize that this was the right thing to do. For now though, he'd focus on results.

"So shall we commence more primarily tests?" He glances at his assistant.

Kabuto nods in agreement as Orochimaru knew that he would with enough prompting. "Yes, Lord Orochimaru." That was part of what made him such a wonderful subordinate!

* * *

About an hour later, Sai smiles as he checks to see what Sasuke had painted. The result was surprising to say the least. Hmm.

"You painted a bedroom with a sunlit window in it." That much was obvious. "And there are two people on the bed." He could see that the blankets were situated in such a way that it was implied two people were underneath them.

If that didn't do it, well he could see a bit of hair peeking out from underneath the covers. Two heads filled with black hair. Interesting.

"Yes, I did." Sasuke nods.

Well that was quite the turnout. An hour ago, Sasuke had been threatening to Chidori his nether regions and now he was painting them in bed together.

Granted, this wasn't as sensual of a painting as he had hoped. Though it was obviously a milestone. Whether Sasuke wanted to admit it verbally or not, that had to be them in the painting. The artist was sure of it.

"You painted us." Sai smiles at the thought.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?" The other man couldn't even see who it really was.

The faces were covered by the blankets. Maybe, he to a degree. Subconsciously, mostly. Though it could have been anyone and he didn't want Sai to go assuming things.

Getting romantic notions stuck into his head was one of the fastest ways for the other man to get hurt. Sasuke didn't want to hurt him. Well maybe, smack him around a lot, but not seriously hurt him.

Oh Sasuke might threaten to Chidori Sai and he probably would fire a s hot, but there was no real bite behind it. "Dark hair." He smiles. "And you admitted that you wanted me. So it's a rather logical conclusion."

"It's a rather arrogant conclusion." Sasuke rolls his eyes.

The fact that it was accurate, didn't change that. The artist could be quite arrogant in his own strange way, Sasuke supposed. Though in all honesty, he knew that he wasn't in any position to truly judge.

It was Sasuke's arrogance that had gotten him into trouble in the first place. He had arrogantly thought that he could handle everything himself. That was why he had left the Leaf and he had paid the price for it.

Sai chuckles and shrugs. "Well perhaps you would prefer to tell me what this painting means to you." It irritated Sasuke.

It irritated him that the other ninja was right. So did the other youth's serenity. Sai was so confident that the people in the painting were them. It was as if he knew that they were fated to be together or something.

That there was nothing to worry about. He couldn't be more wrong though. There was plenty to worry about. The fact that Sai couldn't see that, well that was both romantic and disturbing.

"It means not being alone." He pauses. "Waking up with someone that cares for you and knowing the night hasn't stolen them from you."

Nighttime was the worst. That's when the Massacre had happened. That was probably why Sasuke was now a night owl by nature. It was safer to be alert after the Sun went down.

Sai sighs and smiles, embracing him. "That's very romantic and incredibly sad at the same time." Was it romantic?

* * *

Sasuke didn't really do romantic. He was about to respond when he saw a blonde blur coming at them. Full speed.

Wonderful. Now, he was going to have to explain the whole embracing thing to Naruto. Shit. He'd have to come up with something quickly!

"Hey, Bastard!" Naruto grins. "Hey, Sai!" He smiles again and then blinks when he notices the artist's hands were still wrapped around Sasuke tightly.

Damn it. What could he possibly say? Even the Loser wasn't dumb enough to think this was entirely platonic!

"Hello, Dickless." Sai smiles pleasantly as he lets go of Sasuke.

"Dickless?!" Naruto twitches. "When are you going to stop calling me that stupid nickname?!"

Sai was a genius, Sasuke decides. Whatever else he might think of the man, that much was clear. He had fully distracted Naruto with only one word. Impressive.

Sai laughs as if he didn't have a care in the world. "I don't see why I should stop calling you that." He grins merrily. "It's accurate!"

Naruto was absolutely furious. Not that Sasuke could entirely blame him. The last Uchiha probably wouldn't have taken it very well if someone had called _him_ that!

"It is not accurate!" Naruto flails! "Bastard, tell this pervert that it's not accurate!"

Sai blinks and suddenly narrows his eyes at Naruto. "How would Sasuke know how large your paintbrush is?!" Uh oh.

This wouldn't end well. The last thing he needed was his potential lover to be jealous of his best friend. Sasuke was going to have to step in here.

Damn it. That meant that he would have to tell _that_ story! The one where they were tied together.

Maybe, he could get away with being vague. Yeah! That sounded good!

"When you're on someone's team, you have to work with them closely." Sasuke rolls his eyes. "And sometimes that involves getting an eyeful."

"Ha!" Naruto grins and pokes Sai in the chest energetically. "You see?!" He said eyeful! So the nickname is inaccurate!"

Sai looks at Sasuke as if awaiting confirmation. This was ridiculous. Honestly, how did he get himself into these situations?!

Someone must hate him up there, Sasuke decides. That was the only rational explanation. Why did he have to answer that question?!

"He's not dickless." Sasuke shrugs. "I mean there's _something_ there, but the last time an incident happened…we were like twelve." Another shrug. "So that doesn't mean much."

Sai pauses as he considers this. "I guess on the grounds of accuracy, I could call him Little instead?" Naruto twitches and tackles Sai.

Sasuke shakes his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe these two were elite ninjas sometimes. They acted like little kids.

"Sai, just…stop talking about Naruto's paintbrush size." He shakes his head again. "He's going to be very annoying, if you don't and I'm all out of earplugs."


	6. Chapter 6

Kunais and Paintbrushes

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I think that was the most I've ever had on a single chapter for this story. Oh and the votes are in. Option C won in a landslide. Sorry to the Option A and B voters. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 6

 _It was Thursday._ The week wasn't even over and yet, somehow Sasuke was making out with Sai. He really shouldn't be doing this, but the other man really knew how to kiss.

"See?" Sai smiles at him as he caresses Sasuke's cheek after breaking the kiss. "Art lessons aren't so bad, are they?"

Not that Sasuke had much to compare Sai's kiss to. He really only had Naruto and even those kisses had been accidents. Yes, two accidents.

People might be a bit skeptical that he had kissed Naruto twice on accident, but those people clearly didn't know him very well. They apparently weren't aware of one very important, fundamental fact of the universe. Sasuke Uchiha had the worst luck on the planet.

He smirks at the artist's words. "Well…I think I'm beginning to tolerate them." The last thing that he should do was to give the ROOT Member a bigger head than he already had about the situation.

Sai knew that he was attracted to him. That was dangerous. Dangerous for many reasons, but there was one that stuck out to Sasuke in particular.

The other ninja knew that he cared on some level. Which would make it easier for Sai to get attached. Which made it easier for him to get attached. Which of course meant that when the artist left him as most people in his life usually did, it was going to hurt more.

"Tolerable?" He tilts his head. "We'll have to work on that. Then again, it's only Thursday." Yeah. "I'm sure by the time the week is up, you'll have a newfound appreciation for art."

He was a cheeky son of a bitch, Sasuke muses. Maybe, if he had met Sai earlier things would have been different. He have felt so guilty for being attracted to him and acting on it to the degree he was.

Granted, Sai was asking for it. Actually, he was kinda demanding it. Still, Sasuke should know better than to return his attention.

"You're pretty cocky." The other ninja shrugs.

Feigning some degree of disinterest was really his only defense. Maybe, Sai would just get bored with him. Maybe, he'd want a more responsive partner or at least one that wasn't so damaged.

That was probably part of the attraction, really. They were both horribly broken. Just in different ways. It was twisted, but they understood each other.

Sai smiles pleasantly. "Well I believe I have every right to be cocky." He laughs softly. "Naruto always says that you're an antisocial bastard, but you've been very social towards me."

That was true. Sasuke wanted to deny it, but he couldn't. Making out with Sai probably counted as being social.

"Whatever." He rolls his eyes. "So what do you want me to pain today?"

Every day it was a new challenge. The former member of ROOT was probably lucky that he was only giving Sasuke lessons for a week. Otherwise, the Uchiha wasn't sure how he would have ever kept coming up with different ideas.

"I want you to paint someone you trust." Sai smiles at him again.

It was amazing, really. How one moment, Sasuke wanted nothing more than to kiss the artist and the next, he wanted to strangle him. How as such a swift transformation even possible, he wonders to himself.

Someone he trusted? Sai might as well have poured salt into a battle wound. That was not an easy subject for him.

"Why can't you ever just tell me to paint kittens or something?" He rolls his eyes.

This had to be Sai's subtle way of fucking with his head. The last Uchiha refused to believe these choices were just coincidences. Either Kakashi was putting Sai up to this or the artist was fucking with him for whatever reason.

He didn't know how to feel about that. The last Uchiha wasn't completely naïve. He knew that it was possible for people to fake being attracted to others. To seduce them for the sake of missions and he almost wanted to accuse Sai of that.

Sasuke couldn't though. Not really. The way that Sai had gone about seducing him was equal parts elegant and awkward. No one could have come up with that combination on purpose. It was just Sai being well Sai.

Sai laughs at his question. "Well I suppose you can paint kittens if you like." He smirks. "If that's who you trust."

Sasuke rolls eyes. "I don't trust kittens." Trusting anything that cute was just asking for trouble. "It's a plot on their part to distract people with cuteness." He mutters as he sighs and gets up, heading out to the hot springs.

* * *

It was only Thursday and Sasuke was already scared of what he knew was coming eventually. The day Sai would die or betray him. There had only been a handful of people who Sasuke cared about that didn't fall into one of those two categories and none of them had been his lover.

Kakashi sighs as he waits for Orochimaru to arrive. He'd just have to confront the man directly. Honesty was the best policy.

Of course, that didn't meant that the silver haired ninja was going to lay all his cards on the table at once. Far from it.

No. He had plans in mind. One had to be willing to fight dirty when you were trying to protect Five Great Nations and well, the CopyCat Ninja was more than willing to do whatever it took to prevent absolute chaos from breaking out.

"He'll be here soon and the raid will strike." He shakes his head.

Kakashi didn't like doing it, but he didn't think Suigetsu had lied to him. While Suigetsu was far from the most trustworthy source the CopyCat Ninja could think of, he didn't think the sword lover could come up with a story like _this_.

The Sixth Hokage had no idea how any of this was possible. It violated some very fundamental laws of nature. Though this was Orochimaru. That meant that anything was possible.

"You wished to see me, Lord Hokage?" Orochimaru smiles at him as he heads inside the room. "I got your message."

Everything about the other man utterly repulsed Kakashi on some level. Truthfully, he knew that he was biased though. The Sannin had "stolen" one of his students away and was responsible for the Third Hokage's death.

No matter what Orochimaru did, the CoypCat Ninja doubted that he would ever fully trust the man and for good reason. Orochimaru was just not a trustworthy person in the slightest.

"Yes, I did." He nods at him. "Have a seat."

Pleasantries were important. Pleasantries would make the other man lower his guard. A lowered guard could only mean good things in this circumstance.

Orochimaru quickly takes a seat. "Of course." The other man was now raising his eyebrow at him expectantly. "What is all this about?" It was foolish and Kakashi knew it, but that gesture just irritated him more.

It was as if the Sannin truly thought that Kakashi was beneath him. That Orochimaru believed he was humoring the Hokage and not the other way around. To put it quite simply, it was utterly infuriating!

"The Sound has recently begun to conduct trade with the Leaf Village." Kakashi sighs. "As you're well aware, I'm sure. This is particularly the case with medical supplies."

The Sannin was now looking at him with a rather calculating gaze. "Yes, what of it?" One that reminded the silver haired ninja far too much of the snakes that the other ninja liked to summon.

"One of our ninjas noticed something quite strange in your labs." He pauses, unsure of how to say this. "Medical research that was shall we say of a pioneering variety?"

That was putting it generously. If such research didn't end well, it could would result in a lot of misery. If it did end well, the research could rock the very foundations of what it meant to be human in a way.

"Most of the Sound's medical research could be categorized as such." The Sannin hisses as he drags out his s's. "You'll have to be more specific, I'm afraid."

This wasn't going well. Not that Kakashi had sincerely expected it to go any better in all honesty. There was nothing for it, he supposed. He was just going to have to be blunt.

The Hokage glares at Orochimaru. "Research that would allow two men or two women to conceive a child with both of their DNA." There was only one reason why a man like Orochimaru would want such a thing to be possible. "Most likely because you want to be able to combine more bloodlines."

Orochimaru smirks. "I was going to inform you of the research, of course." To his shock, the other man seemed rather pleased with Kakashi's discovery. "We're not quite ready to unveil it yet, but the initial results do look rather promising."

Kakashi twitches and he could feel his hand already beginning to form a Chidori. Orochimaru had no right to do this. To play God. Who knew what sort of consequences this could have on the mothers or the children that were conceived through this method?!

"You were banished once for human experimentation." He seethes. "What makes you think that you won't be banished again?!"

Orochimaru laughs and shakes his head. "I'm not a member of the Leaf Village. I'm an ally." He smirks. "You can't banish me and if you try to attack the Sound Village, well…you'll be risking the lives of your own ninjas to prevent medical research that could help a lot of people, Kakashi. Besides, you need those supplies too much to do it."

* * *

Meanwhile Sai smiles as he watches Sasuke paint. As always, he put his everything into whatever he did. His passion. That was one of his most admirable traits.

It was also one of the reasons why Sai was so attracted to him, he supposed. He was passionate about his art. Sasuke as passionate about everything and yet, so untouchable to most people at the same time. A fascinating contrast.

"That is a lot of yellow." Sai notes.

Indeed. Sasuke seemed to be applying quite a bit yellow paint to the formerly pristine canvas. Yellow wasn't a color that Sasuke used often when he painting things.

This should be interesting. A chance from his usual routine might do him some good. Most of the other man's attempts to paint had at least a somewhat sad connotation to them.

Yellow wasn't a naturally sad color though. "It's necessary." Sasuke shrugs as he continues making broad brushstrokes against the canvas.

Those broad strokes immediately took Sai's place somewhere else. Somewhere far less practical and more erotic in nature. Perhaps, it was only to be expected now that he had an Uchiha for a boyfriend.

 **Warning Sai's Fantasy**

 _They were on the couch again. Kissing. They been doing a lot of that lately. It was something that Sai greatly enjoyed and he knew that Sasuke did as well. Whether he wanted to admit it or not._

 _"Mmm." Sasuke sighs in contentment into the kiss._

 _Normally, the other ninja was on the quiet side. That wasn't true when it came to anything involving intimacy though, Sai realizes._

 _When it came to thinks such as kissing, the Uchiha was quite vocal. The little sighs of pleasure, pants, or growls were incredibly arousing. He idly wonders, if Sasuke knew that or if he was just naturally wired that way. To make such delightfully erotic sounds._

 _"I like it when you moan for me." Sai smiles at him._

 _Sasuke smiles slyly at him as he yanks off the other man's pants and boxers. "I feel the same way."_

 _It didn't take long for Sasuke to grasp his arousal in his hands and to start stroking him. This was ecstasy._

 _Just the feeling of the other man's hands on his cock, made him moan. He'd never felt anything like this, but Sai knew this was just the beginning. And he also knew that Sasuke was wearing entirely too many clothes._

 _He would have to fix that. As soon as possible. With that thought in mind, the artist swiftly reaches for his soon to be lover's pants and…_ he felt a slight slap to his face.

 **End of Sai's Fantasy**

"Sai!" Sasuke's eyes narrow in annoyance. "Are you still with me?"

Ouch! That slap kinda stung. Hmpf and he was having such a nice daydream as Sakura might call it!

Oh wait. It was Sasuke who was slapping his face. "Yes, I'm still with you." That was okay then.

He could tolerate such offenses from his boyfriend. Most people though, well that would be a challenge to battle. Clearly, that wasn't Sasuke's intention though.

"Good." He points to the canvas. "Well I'm done with the painting."

Oh right. Sai smiles and goes to see what the other ninja had painted today. What he saw, well it made him **angry**.

It was a strange feeling. Sai wasn't particularly familiar with the emotion, but he recognized it instinctively. His boyfriend had drawn a picture of someone else. A very familiar someone!

* * *

Elsewhere Naruto was hanging out with Sakura and Taka. His pink haired friend was convinced that Taka just needed to get used to being around normal people or something.

"We should probably check on Sasuke." Suigetsu shrugs. "I know that he still has those art lessons going on and that won't end well."

Naruto shakes his head. "I just checked on them yesterday." He sighs and winces at the memory. "Sai is still Sai and the Bastard is still the Bastard." Some things truly never changed, he supposed.

"What do you mean by that?" Sakura raises an eyebrow as they made their way through the Leaf's Market District.

The blonde really didn't want to talk about this, especially not in front of Sugietsu would never let him live it down. On the other hand, he knew that the truth. Sakura wasn't going to let this go until she got some sort of answer out of him.

Naruto sighs. "You know Sai and his _jokes_." Hopefully, Sakura would just leave it at that.

"Ohhh." She nods. "Yeah. What about Sasuke though?"

The blonde shakes his head in amusement. "He's still an antisocial Bastard, but at least he hasn't killed Sai yet." Which he had kinda been worried about.

Sasuke was trying his best to turn over a new leaf. Still, Sai was not exactly the easiest guy to get along with at times. It wasn't really his fault, but still. It got irritating when someone was always commenting on your private regions!

"Well it wouldn't hurt him to be a little more social." Karin sighs in agreement.

Jugo nods. "Yes, we should go check on him again." The gentle giant smiles at the thought. "After all, we're his friends and if he's going to socialize with anyone, it would probably be us."

Naruto nods. Yeah. That was a good point. With that in mind, the group slowly makes their way to the Uchiha District.

* * *

"Sai, what's wrong?" Sasuke blinks in confusion.

His boyfriend suddenly seemed pissed. The last Uchiha couldn't understand for the life of him why. Sai had asked him to paint someone that he trusted. So he had painted Naruto.

Sai twitches. Another indication that the artist was furious. "You painted Naruto." Well yeah.

"So?" Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "You asked me to paint someone that I trusted." Why was the other man acting this way? It was completely irrational. What was going on?

Sai shakes his head and pulls Sasuke into his arms. Well alright. If the moody artist wanted to make out some more, the Uchiha was definitely okay with that.

Though he was still horribly confused. "I'm unaccustomed to this feeling." To what feeling?

"What do you mean?" Sai wasn't used to being angry? "You're angry, but I don't know why." That much was obvious.

Sai looked like he wanted to kill something. Sasuke didn't get it. Usually, the artist was rather happy to look at his paintings and offered some praise. That and a mini psychoanalysis of whatever Sasuke had made that day. So what was up this time?

"I said to paint someone you trust." Sasuke nods in again. "And you painted him." Yeah. "Not me." Ohhh.

He wasn't just angry. Sai was jealous. Very jealous. Sasuke didn't know whether to be disturbed or flattered by that. So he settles on a mixture of both.

Sasuke shakes his head. "Sai, you're feeling jealousy." Either way, Sasuke was going to have to nip this in the bud. "And it's completely unnecessary."

The bond that he felt with Naruto was that of a brother. Not a lover. So the artist had no reason to feel this way.

"Why is it unnecessary?" Sai looks at him in confusion.

Sasuke just shakes his head and kisses him. "Because I don't think of Naruto that way. I trust him, but it's not the same as it is as you." He smiles when he feels the other man return his kiss. "I don't look at him like I would look at a lover."

Sai smiles at that. Good. The unsettling feeling in his heart and stomach was slowly going away. Jealousy, Sasuke had called it.

He greatly disliked feeling jealous. The artist could only hope that he would never have to feel that way again. Sai had been silly and he realized that in retrospect.

Sasuke had a hard enough time forming regular bonds. "Good. I'm sorry for losing my temper." He wasn't going to go out and seek multiple romantic bonds!

"It's alright." Sasuke sighs between kisses and looks at him apologetically. "I should have realized that would look really bad to you."

Sai nods against as he continues kissing Sasuke. He smirks and grabs the Uchiha's ass. He really did like the other man's backside. It was perfectly shaped.

It was nice to be able to grab it. Though the former member of ROOT was looking forward to doing more than that. Like his daydream from earlier. He wanted to do things like that.

"Would you be agreeable to the idea of doing more than kissing?" He looks at Sasuke hopefully.

* * *

Sasuke was about to answer him when suddenly the sounds of running, laughter, and footsteps were heard. Sai blinks in confusion at that. Who would dare to come to the Uchiha District unannounced?

He knew that Naruto and Taka might do it, but they wouldn't be that loud about it. Would they? Well on second thought, yes. Yes, they would be that loud about it.

He really should invest in earplugs. "I really have to get us some of those earplugs that you mentioned earlier." Sai shakes his head in amusement. "It seems that they would come in handy."

Sasuke nods in agreement. That's when it became apparent that Suigetsu had seen them kissing. Great. This was going to be really annoying.

"Ha!" He points at Karin excitedly. "See? I told you that he never had a chance with him! I told you that he was gay!"

No wait. He was wrong. This was going to be _extremely_ annoying!

Karin blinks as she stares at Sasuke. "No way!" The red head seemingly couldn't believe it.

Sasuke just roll his eyes. "Whatever." He sighs as he looks at Sai. "I guess there's no point in even trying to keep it a secret anymore."

Not with Naruto's loud mouth. The entire village would likely know about their relationship by sundown and for some reason, that was a relief.

Some part of him didn't want to keep his relationship with Sai a secret. He deserved better than that. The artist deserved someone who could love him out in the _open._

"Not really." Sai smiles cheerfully.

It was that fake smile again. Sai was annoyed or nervous at Taka and Naruto. Probably both. Not that Sasuke could blame him. He felt the same way .

Naruto blinks. "So you guys are really, you know?" Sasuke was suddenly rather tempted to smack his friend upside the head for being an idiot.

Of course, they were together. "Yes, Loser. We're together." He rolls his eyes again. "Meaning he's my boyfriend."

Sometimes one had to spell it out very clearly for people to get what you were saying. The Leaf was filled with individuals like that and it often drove Sasuke absolutely crazy!

"Congratulations." Jugo smiles at them. "That's wonderful news."

Well at least Jugo was taking this in a normal fashion. Really, the last Uchiha sometimes wished the rest of his team and Naruto would take a leaf out of the gentle giant's book and be more normal about well _everything_!

"Well I wasn't really expecting this." Karin sighs. "Though it does explain a lot." She smiles at him. "Congratulations."

Suigetsu smirks. "So who throws the kunai and who catches it?" Sasuke twitches and was about to Chidori the idiot when Karin did it for him.

Huh. Well what do you know about that? Maybe, Jugo wasn't the only normal member of Taka, after all.

"YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT!" She flails. "I can't believe that you even asked him that!" Neither could Sasuke.

"Well I'm happy for you Bastard and for you, Sai." Naruto grins. "It's about time the Bastard found someone."

Again, Sasuke rolls his eyes. Damn. He really was going to get eyestrain soon. "Thank you." Sai smiles at them, this time it was a real smile. "We do appreciate your well wishes."

It was going to be a long hard road, Sasuke realizes. Sai needed to learn to experience emotions normally and he had to face his inner demons, but well at least now he had a boyfriend who could distract him with kisses. So that was nice. He'd deal with everything else later.


	7. Chapter 7

Kunais and Paintbrushes

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.

 **Chapter Notation & Spoiler**: I know that Orochimaru had a kid in Boruto, but that is not the case in this story.

Chapter 7

 _Friday._ It was Friday, Sai thinks to himself as he made his way back to the Uchiha District. That meant they still had today, tomorrow, and Sunday before Sasuke's art lessons would officially conclude.

"Though I doubt Sunday will be the last day that I find myself in the Uchiha District." He smiles at the thought. "Sasuke's friends know about our relationship now." And that meant that they had both achieved something that they hadn't had before.

A sense of stability. The fact that Sasuke's teams knew about their relationship meant that they were official in a way. There was no going back beyond this point.

With that thought in mind, he happily knocks on Sasuke's door. Sasuke seemed to appreciate that sort of thing. Courtesies that demonstrated a respect for privacy.

"I don't really understand why." He laughs quietly to himself. "It's not as if he didn't sense me coming."

Sasuke wasn't a Sensory Ninja like Karin, but he did have keen senses and given how much time they had spent around each other recently, the other man was likely very much aware of his presence. Sasuke likely already knew that Sai was here before he had ever knocked on the door.

"Hey." Sasuke opens the door and offers him a small smile.

Sasuke didn't smile at very many people, but he did have a very nice smile. It was the polar opposite of Naruto's sunny grin, but no less warm in its own way. Just more subtle.

"Are you ready for your lesson?" Sai smiles at him cheerfully.

He was smiling more easily these days as well. It had taken Sai a long time to learn how to properly smile again. ROOT had beaten such displays of emotion out of him and by the time Danzo had assigned him to Team Seven, well it had been hard to regain those emotions.

With Sasuke it was easier than other people. Probably because the other ninja felt things intensely. For the most part, Sasuke kept his cards close to his vast though. He usually only displayed rage, arrogance, or indifference to most people, but not to Sai.

No. Sai was more privileged than that. "I'm ready." The young artist got to see the full spectrum of human emotion on Sasuke's face.

"Good." The other ninja smiles again as he wraps his arm around Sasuke's waist and leads him to the hot springs. "Because today's lesson is very important."

Sasuke nods at that. Fortunately, his boyfriend had gotten better at accepting his assignments in this matter. He had been rather stubborn at first.

"What is it this time?" The Uchiha looks at him with those dark eyes that drove Sai crazy.

The artist smile only grows. "I want you to draw something that you want." He was tremendously pleased with himself for coming up with such a good assignment.

Sasuke blinks at him in confusion. "Something that I want?" Hmm. Maybe, he should have phrased it better.

"Yes, precisely." Sai nods reassuringly. "Another would be to think of it as a dream or goal of yours." He adds as an afterthought. "Or a wish."

The other dark haired ninja pauses as he considers that before he nods. It seemed that Sasuke now understood what he was supposed to paint today. The only question would be what would Sasuke decide to paint.

Itachi was dead. So Sai knew that wouldn't be it. What was it that Sasuke desired now that the dust of everything had settled. Now, that he was free to do as he pleased.

He supposed that he was about to find out. "Alright." Sasuke shrugs as he reaches for a paintbrush. "Are you always going to stand behind me while I paint?" He raises an eyebrow. " The hovering kinda drives me crazy."

Sai could only smirk at that. Oh there were many ways that he could drive Sasuke crazy besides standing behind him. The good kind of crazy though!

"I like watching you." Sai smiles at him. "One can't beat the view." He playfully slaps Sasuke's ass to illustrate his point.

The Uchiha turns around to face him. He was gawking at Sai. Well the artist supposed he deserved that. That was rather direct. In his defense though, Sasuke did have a _very_ nice ass! Who could possibly resist smacking it?

* * *

Orochimaru sighs back in the Sound as he looks over his various notes. The Hokage had found out about his latest venture. That was terribly unfortunate, but it wouldn't stop him.

"Do you still wish to proceed, Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto looks at him with concern.

Of course, he still wished to proceed! Why wouldn't he?! This was perhaps one of the greatest medical advances that had ever been made in human history?!

Was he supposed to overlook that fact because it made Kakashi Hatake angry? No. Of course, not! That would be positively unjust! Continuing on was a must!

He nods at his assistant. "Yes, I do." That much should be obvious!

Kabuto looked more than a little uneasy at the thought. Orochimaru was rather disappointed at that. The brilliant medic should know better. No great scientific advance was ever made without a degree of risk!

"Very well, My Lord." He smiles at him. "I trust that you had someone in mind when you ordered the start of this project?"

Obviously. It was inconvenient, but Orochimaru had always suspected that Sasuke's interest didn't lay with women and that the Sharingan wasn't something that he was going to allow to die out over the gifted ninja's preference.

That and there were so many delightful possibilities. Sasuke did have a calming influence on Jugo. Perhaps mixing their bloodlines would be beneficial!

"Naturally." He didn't bother to deny it.

He might not even have to resort to any form of trickery. There was a strong possibility that Jugo might willingly assist him in this endeavor, provided that he could talk Sasuke into it.

The usually gentle giant had a soft spot for Sasuke. Probably because the Uchiha reminded him of Kimimaro. Orochimaru sighs softly at the memory of that boy.

He had shown so much promise. Kimimaro would have been his vessel, had his illness not taken the child away from Orochimaru. It was truly a pity, but he supposed there was no time to brood over such things.

"May I ask who?" The silver haired medic looks at him.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Orochimaru pauses. "And as for the second father, I haven't entirely decided yet. So far I learn towards Jugo or Naruto."

Naruto would likely do it to make his friend happy. Though Orochimaru was almost afraid of what combining the genes of Sasuke and Naruto would do. Though the thought of a blonde Uchiha was rather amusing.

Hmm. Maybe, this is what fathers felt like when the prospect of grandchildren came up? He wouldn't know. Orochimaru had never fathered any children of his own using traditional means.

"Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto's voice snaps him out of his internal musings.

The Sannin glances at the medic. "Yes, we will proceed as planned." And with that, both ninjas quickly get back to work.

* * *

Back in the Leaf Village, Sasuke was hard at work on his latest painting. He frowns as he realizes he didn't know exactly who he was supposed to be painting. Oh he'd always had an abstract idea, of course.

That was different than actually committing it to the canvas though. "What's wrong?" Sai places his hands on his cheek comfortingly. "Do you need more paint or perhaps another brush?"

Sasuke shakes his head. "No. I'm good." He still had to finish this painting somehow and that's exactly what he was going to do.

He just hoped that he didn't hurt Sai's feelings with this one. The last Uchiha was more than aware that he had yesterday. That had been an oversight on his part though.

Sasuke hadn't meant to hurt Sai. "Good." Though that was his worse habit, really.

The young ninja had fallen into a pattern of hurting the ones that he cared about most. Itachi, Naruto, Team Seven, and even Taka to a certain degree. And now, there was Sai.

Mercifully, in the artist's case it had been more of a misunderstanding than anything else and it was nice to know that Sai cared enough to get jealous. Still though, Sasuke felt guilty. Very guilty.

"Is there a reason why you asked me to paint this?" Sasuke adds some black paint to the canvas. "Something that I should know?"

Sai smiles at him. "I care about you, Sasuke." He knew that. "And I want to make you happy. So I figured this would be a good way to determine how I should go about that."

Oh. That was oddly sweet. Sasuke hadn't thought Sai could do sweet. He seemed to alternate between calculating assassin, deviant, and awkward. Mostly deviant though.

Hmm. Well you learned something new everyday, Sasuke thinks to himself as he continues his painting.

He or she would probably have black hair, he decides. Black hair was a dominant trait, after all. So it was only logical to assume that his child would have black hair.

"That's rather sneaky of you." Sasuke rolls his eyes playfully.

Sai smirks as he wraps his arms around Sasuke's waist and watches him paint. "Yes, I thought so." He nibbles on Sasuke's ear. "A ninja should expect the unexpected though. Maybe, you are losing your touch."

Not that he would have minded another color. Just as long as he didn't have blonde children or children with pink hair. That would be utterly embarrassing.

Naruto would never let him live it down, if his son or daughter had blonde hair. That and Sasuke could only shudder when he thought of all the taunts a pink haired Uchiha would have to endure, especially if they were a boy.

Maybe, that was one of the reasons why he had never shown much interest in Sakura. "Pft. You wish." Deep down, he must have down the math.

Pink hair + Uchiha = Blasphemy. It would be the height of blasphemy, he determines. That was almost as unbelievable as Naruto suddenly eating a healthy die! It just violated some sort of fundamental law of nature!

* * *

Elsewhere Naruto was practicing his swordsmanship with Sugietsu. "Get him, Naruto!" And his cousin Karin was cheering him on.

Well maybe, calling her a cousin was a bit of a stretch. All he knew was that they were somehow distantly related. Calling her his cousin was just easier than figuring out their exact familial ties.

Naruto really, really hated math. "Pft. Please!" So that would have just been asking for a headache, really.

"What are you pfing about?!" The blonde demands in outrage! "I'm so totally going to win this fight!"

He was bluffing though and they all knew that. Naruto had never really spent much time with swords before and Sugietsu was an expert with them. It wasn't fair fight, but that didn't bother this particular Uzumaki.

In fact, it was the exact opposite. He was happy to have a real challenge. These days, that was pretty rare. There were only a handful of people who could give Naruto a good fight. So he appreciated it whenever it happened.

"You're pretty tough when you've got the furball to help you." Suigetsu smirks as he charges at Naruto. "Those Shadow Clones and that fancy Sage Mode thing you do, but you don't' have a clue how to handle a sword."

That was probably true, but that didn't mean that the sapphire eyed ninja was ever going to admit that! Believe it! One way or another, he would find a way to win this fight!

"Whatever!" Their swords clash.

The Hozuki was obviously feeling rather smug today though. "That's probably why Sassy was making out with Sai and not you though." He snickers. "Because Sai knows how to handle his sword better."

Naruto blinks. He was far from as naïve as he used to be. While the idea of two men being together hadn't really registered before, it registered now and it didn't take a genius to realize what Suigetsu meant.

"That is sooo gross!" He flails, the sword flying out of his hand. "Don't talk about the Bastard like that!"

Luckily, Jugo caught it. Which was a very good thing because that flying sword could have done some serious damage, if he hadn't.

"NARUTO!" It was now Karin's turn to flail. "Watch what you're doing!" And to be really, really loud it seemed. "You could have killed someone!"

Alright. She had a point. Just throwing swords around like that wasn't a good idea. That much was obvious.

It wasn't his fault though! Suigetsu had been fighting really, really dirty. How as he supposed to not respond to that?! The damn pervert!

"Yeah!" Suigetsu smirks. "Watch where you're throwing your sword!"

Naruto twitches at that. "And you watch your mouth!" Sheesh!

How the Hell had Sasuke ever managed to travel with these people?! They were so damn weird sometimes!

Suigetsu was apparently having too much fun though. He wasn't going to stop goading Naruto that easily. He had finally found a weak spot.

"You sound jealous." He smirks. "Maybe, you can talk Sassy into a threesome. Is that the reason why you chased his ass all over the Five Great Nations?"

Oh THAT was it! "YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT! RASENGAN!" He charges up his Rasengan and goes flying at the pervert.

Suigetsu blinks and barely manages to dodge. "Holy shit!" He stares at Naruto wide eyed. "That's so cheating! This is supposed to be a _**sword fight**_! Not Ninjutsu!"

Yeah. Alright. That was a fair point. He probably shouldn't have let himself get that hot under the collar so fast.

"Yeah." He sighs. "Sorry about that, but you totally started that one!"

Karin shakes her head as she looks at Jugo. "What do you think?" Naruto idly notes their conversation.

"I think that if we don't step in, those two will kill each other by the end of the week." He sighs and with that, both Naruto and Suigetsu faceplant into the ground.

* * *

A short while later, Sai smiles when he notices that Sasuke had finally finished his painting. It was one that he had taken a great deal of time on. So he knew the other man had really thought about it.

Though the result did perplex him. Sasuke had drawn a child. A small child and he was holding the boys hand and there was another person off to the side. He could see a pale hand holding the child's other hand.

"I don't really understand?" Sai frowns.

The child was adorable. It greatly resembled Sasuke though its hair was less spiky and it's eyes were shaped a bit differently. He had seen eyes like those before. In a mirror.

Sasuke shakes his head and sighs as he crosses his arms. "Well I thought that it would be rather obvious." It was as though he was embarrassed about something.

Sai just couldn't for the life of him figure out what. It was a very nice painting, especially considering Sasuke had started off less than a week ago with only average results at best. What was he so embarrassed about?

His behavior didn't make any sense and that perplexed him greatly. Normally, Sai could understand at least intellectually what motivated the last Uchiha. That clearly wasn't the case today though.

"I'm afraid it isn't." Sai sighs as he caresses Sasuke's cheek. "Perhaps, you would be kind enough to clarify."

Something was wrong. Clearly, he had missed something incredibly important here. Sai just wasn't sure what, but he did know that he was at risk of alienating Sasuke. Of driving him away.

"I've had two goals since I was a kid." Sasuke shakes his head. "The first was to kill Itachi." Right. That was a subject that Sai wasn't going to touch with a one thousand foot pole at the moment. "And the second was and is to restore my Clan." Oh!

Well that made sense. There was just one problem though. They were both men. Sai couldn't really _help_ Sasuke with that.

"I'm not opposed to the idea of children." He smiles at Sasuke and then looks at the painting. "Especially not one as adorable as that, but the mechanics are a bit…difficult."

A bit difficult was putting it rather charitably. They were actually impossible. Two men couldn't make a baby together.

Their best option was adoption or surrogacy. Knowing Sasuke, it would probably be the latter. Sai could only hope that the last Uchiha didn't actually intend to bed some woman to make that happen.

There were ways to employ the use of surrogates without resorting to such distasteful measures. "Yes, I know." Distasteful measures that had Sai's blood boiling at the mere thought of them.

There it was again. This feeling of jealousy. Sai didn't care for it. He didn't care for it at all!

"I presume that adoption isn't really an option you wish to explore?" Sai sighs.

Sasuke shakes his head. He knew that he was doing it again. He was hurting Sai, but it was something that should be discussed sooner than later. There was no point in pursuing a relationship that was doomed to failure, if wasn't something the artist could handle.

"Adoption is a wonderful option for many people, but it's not for me." He had to find a way to make Sai understand. "They wouldn't get the Sharingan and it wouldn't be much of a Clan Revival, if that child didn't possess one drop of Uchiha Blood."

Sai nods in understanding, before he kisses Sasuke. The last Uchiha was more than happy to return the kiss. It might be the last one that they shared and that thought was far more upsetting than it should be.

When did he get so attached to Sai? He had barely known the other man at the start of this ridiculous idea of Kakashi's and now the artist was firmly interrogated into his life.

He was so used to Sai being there, that the thought of him not being there was actually painful. Sasuke cared about him and that was terrifying. He had thought it more than once, but it was still just as true.

His love was a curse. "I understand that." Sai breaks the kiss and looks at him intently. "What about surrogacy?"

Sasuke sighs in relief. Good. So far, it looked like the former ROOT Member might be able to understand.

"Surrogacy was what I was going to suggest." Sasuke nods.

Sai pauses as he considers the matter. The fact that he hadn't outright dismissed it was probably a good sign. Well at least that was the case in Sasuke's mind, anyway.

"Would you be using purely traditional methods or clinical methods for such this?" That was a fair question.

Sasuke could hardly blame Sai for wanting to know. "Clinical." He shrugs. "I'm not sure if it would count as cheating to use traditional, but I wouldn't be able to do it. My conscience wouldn't allow it." That and there was that other problem. "And I doubt my body would respond to anyone else."

Sai smiles at that. Sai could be weird sometimes, Sasuke knew. This was just one of those times. Why was he smiling at that?!

"Good." Sai kisses his forehead. "Then I wouldn't mind."

Wait. He wanted to do it right now?! Sasuke blinks. It was one thing to be accepting of the idea in theory, it was another to give him permission to do it now!

"I wasn't planning on doing this immediately." Sasuke shakes his head. "I just wanted to understand your views on such things before we went any further."

It wouldn't have been fair to Sai to continue the relationship otherwise. Sasuke knew that. If nothing else, he wanted to be honest with Sai.

So few people had been blunt with Sasuke about their true intentions, that he considered it almost malicious to do otherwise. People had called him many things over the years and since his defection from the Leaf most of them weren't exactly flattering, but one thing no one had ever been able to call him was a liar.

He'd always striven to be as honest as possible outside of battle. "Mmm. Well that's good to know." Sai smiles at him more.

There were times when such a thing was necessary, when you were a ninja. Times when there was just no way around it. Though he had always done his best within reason to be honest and he was proud of that.

His list of sins was still incredibly long. Being a liar wasn't one of them though. That was something, right? Surely, that counted for something?

"I suppose so." Sasuke tilts his head. "So it really wouldn't bother you?"

Did Sai actually want a child or was he just humoring Sasuke. And if it was the latter, what should he do about that fact?

It wouldn't be right to force fatherhood on Sai, if it wasn't something he wanted. Though it was obviously something Sasuke wanted very much and he wanted Sai as well.

He wasn't sure when that had happened exactly, but Sasuke knew that was the truth. There was really no point in denying it. He liked being touched by Sai and wanted to return the favor more.

His body must know something that his mind hadn't entirely caught onto yet. "I've never really thought about it before." Sasuke was convinced of it.

The artist smiles at the picture. "Though now that you bring it up, the idea is not unpleasant." Ah. Well that was good.

Sasuke could work with this. He wasn't entirely sure how this would work, but Sai was willing at least in theory to meet him halfway. He could do the same.

He blinks when he hears the sound of a Rasengan go off. Wait. What?!

"Did you hear that?" Sasuke blinks.

Sai nods in agreement. "Yes, I believe that I did." He looks just as confused.

"Naruto's Rasengan." The last Uchiha sighs. "He must be training with Suigetsu." Naruto had mentioned that he was going to, but Sasuke hadn't actually thought he'd be dumb enough to do it.

Why he had thought that, he didn't know. Sasuke should have known the idiot was going to do it!

"We should probably ago and investigate the matter." Sai suggests.

Sasuke nods as he takes Sai's hand in his own. "You're right." And with that, the two men Flicker off together to deal with whatever chaos Naruto and Suigetsu were up to now.


	8. Chapter 8

Kunais and Paintbrushes

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all like this chapter.

 **Chapter Notation:** I decided to add a second pairing. One that I've never seen done before. It will just be a minor side thing though. The vast majority of this story's focus will be on Sai and Sasuke. Happy reading.

Chapter 8

When Saturday dawned, Sasuke was waiting for Sai. It was strange how his boyfriend had become such an integral part of his life so quickly. Though idly, he muses he needed another term for Sai.

"Boyfriend sounds like something an Academy Student or Genin would say." Not something that two powerful ninjas would call their significant other.

Though he wasn't entirely sure what else he could call him. Sai wasn't his husband. He wasn't his lover. So what should he call him?

"You seem rather troubled by something." Sai appears out of nowhere.

Sasuke almost jumps. Had he really been so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize the other ninja was approaching? Being distracted to such an extent was normally a good way to get yourself killed when you were a ninja! What was the matter with him?!

Sasuke shakes his head. He was already outside and had been waiting by the hot springs. "Not troubled exactly." That wasn't the right word for it.

"Well something is on your mind." Sai tilts his head. "And it appears to be perplexing you a great deal then."

Alright. That was more accurate. Still, Sasuke wasn't sure how he was supposed to answer that. It all seemed so trivial, even in his own head. So goodness only knows how stupid it would sound, if he muttered those thoughts out loud.

Sasuke shakes his head. "It's nothing important." He smiles at Sai. "So what did you want me to paint today?"

The artist raises an eyebrow. Sai obviously knew that something was up and Sasuke was trying to change the subject. Though thankfully, he it didn't seem like he was going to push the issue.

"I want you to paint something that you're afraid of." Sai smiles at him pleasantly.

Sasuke blinks at that one. Whatever he had been expecting. That wasn't it. There weren't many things left in the world that could still scare him honestly.

He shakes his head at the thought. "Did Kakashi give you a list of suggestions or something?" These were all rather intimate questions.

It would be like Kakashi to slip Sai suggestions. The last Uchiha could easily envision such a thing happening with disturbing ease and Sai going along with it. Because Sai was Sai. He followed orders.

"No." His boyfriend shakes his head. "Lord Kakashi didn't give me a list." He smiles brightly at the other ninja. "I came up with these all on my own."

That was surprisingly, Sasuke thinks to himself as he reaches for some black paint. Sai probably expected that though. Most people associated black with the night sky and the night frightened many people. It was the fear of the unknown he supposed.

Unfortunately, his own fear wasn't anything nearly as common as that. Sasuke's personal demons weren't easily vanquished by a nightlight. No. They were far more tricky than that.

"Really?" Sasuke looks at Sai as he begins splashing the formerly pristine white canvas with the dark paint. "Why?"

They were all so intimate. He and Sai had barely known each other before this. There were times when that simple fact was so easy to forget, but it was true. A week ago, Sasuke had barely known Sai and the reverse was also true.

So much had changed and in such a short amount of time. It was almost enough to leave Sasuke feeling more than a little breathless. Of course, he could compose himself better than that though. Well at least on the outside.

"Because I wanted to get to know you better." Sai squeezes his ass. "And asking you to paint your kunai, well that seemed like it might be in poor taste."

Sasuke twitches. Alright. Forget everything he had just thought about maintaining his composure.

Sai was asking for it and well the last Uchiha had no problem giving it to him. He whirls around and goes to smack the deviant upside the head for that comment. "You are such a pervert!" He snarls, his one eye flashing red and the other lavender.

The Sharingan and Rinnegan. Anyone else besides Naruto and Sai probably would have flinched. Not them though. Naruto because he was born fearless and Sai because he had the fear beaten out of him in ROOT.

"And you're astonishingly predictable sometimes." Sai chuckles. "You shouldn't ask questions that you don't want the answer to." He smiles at him.

That smile. It was so different than the one Sasuke had grown accustomed to seeing on Sai's face. It was so real. So genuine and warm that it made it almost impossible for him to stay mad at the other ninja.

Was that intentional or an accident? He didn't know. With Sai it was truly hard to tell what was an elaborate plan and what was just part of the forced awkwardness that he possessed.

That though brought a deep pain to his chest. "Pervert." Danzo. This was Danzo's fault.

Not for the first time, Sasuke wished that he had drug the bastard's death out more. Not only had he worn his family's corpses (well part of them) as trophies and armor, he had nearly ruined Sai. That bastard had deserved to die.

"Ah there you are." Sasuke hears an all too familiar voice call out from behind him.

That's when he turns around and blinks. It was Orochimaru and Sasuke couldn't help, but twitch at that. People were getting entirely too comfortable with just prancing into his District!

* * *

Meanwhile Naruto grumbles as he nurses a few bruises on the back of his head. Suigetsu and his damn sword and Sasuke with his temper. It had been a painful combination yesterday.

"Hey, don't look at me that way!" Suigetsu grins at him as he rubs the own bump on his head. "You're the one who wanted to learn how to handle a sword!"

Well yeah. He had. Naruto just hadn't thought Suigetsu would be so damn psychotic about it. Then again, he probably should have seen it coming. Kisame had called the guy a Prodigy in the Art of Murder, after all.

"Yeah." The blonde rolls his eyes. "I did, but I didn't think that you'd go crazy on a beginner!"

Karin laughs at that. Yeah. Maybe, the sapphire eyed ninja deserved that. He should have seen it coming, but still. He didn't appreciate being laughed at by his distant cousin!

The red head just wouldn't stop though. "Oh come on!" The laughter kept coming. "You know what Sugietsu is like!"

The blonde sighs as he looks around the training grounds they were in. That was true. He did know what Suigetsu was like.

More than once, Naruto was shocked that Sasuke hadn't killed the other man during their journeys as Taka. Sasuke had never been the most patient person begin with. Maybe Jugo had stepped in and saved Suigetsu's neck or something.

"Yeah." Naruto sighs." I guess."

Jugo laughs softly and shakes his head. "You get used to it." Probably.

One could get used to almost anything by exposure, he supposed. Gods and Goddesses knew that it had taken Naruto awhile to get used to Pervy Sage's well pervyness.

No. Naruto didn't care that that wasn't a real word. He was a badass ninja who had helped to save the world. He could make up words if he wanted to! Believe it!

"Besides, Suigetsu's only acting out this way because he thinks your cute." Jugo sips on his tea before he continues. "And he's afraid that you like Sasuke better. So he's just acting out to get your attention."

Wait! What?! _**THUD!**_ Naruto falls out of his chair in shock. There was no way that he possibly could have heard the gentle giant right! Suigetsu did not like him! Not that way! Did he?

* * *

Sai narrows his eyes at Orochimaru. He knew enough about the man from his former slot in the Bingo Book and from Team Seven to be suspicious of him. He was also the one responsible for Sasuke leaving the Leaf in the first place.

"Orochimaru, what are you doing here?" Sasuke's voice sounded torn between confusion and annoyance.

That was a good sign, Sai decides. The Sannin was less likely to ruin things, if Sasuke didn't want him here. Maybe, he'd get lucky and Sasuke would tell the other ninja to leave.

Once Orochimaru was gone, they could go back to important things. Important things like painting and making out. And if he was really lucky, maybe more than that.

Sai quite liked kissing though. "I'm here to make you an offer." Kissing was nice. Of course, he'd like to go even further, but that would come in time.

Sasuke was unexpectedly shy about that sort of thing. He needed someone who knew exactly how much to push before Sasuke would get seriously irritated. If one didn't push with Sasuke, they weren't going to get anywhere.

Naruto's problem had simply been that he had pushed too much. There was a fine line that one had to walk. Luckily, it seemed that the savior of the Ninja World was very much only interested in women. That meant he wasn't going to try to steal Sasuke away from him.

Orochimaru was another matter though. "An offer?" The Sannin definitely would steal Sasuke away from him, if given half the chance.

Sai's fingers itched to draw some rather lethal art at the thought. It was astonishing really. Before Sasuke, he couldn't remember the last time that he had felt an emotion as unpleasant as jealousy.

It was a dark feeling that felt like a weight in his chest and stomach. Like his blood was on fire and strangely itchy. It wasn't quite as poisonous as hatred, but it was distinctly unpleasant.

"That's right." Orochimaru smiles at him slyly. "You still wish to restore your Clan, right?" It was as if the other man though that he had won something.

The artist wasn't exactly clear on what the Sannin was up to, but he doubted it was anything good. His every instinct was screaming at him to chase Orochimaru off. It was a ridiculous thought, but one that he couldn't foolish banish.

Orochimaru was a Sannin. One of the strongest ninjas in his generation. He would not be an easy opponent to defeat by any measure.

The last time that Sasuke had fought him, his almost lover had been lucky. "Of course. Though I fail to see what that has to do with you." Orochimaru had already been gravely sick by the time the two of them had fought.

Sasuke had the advantage that time. Still, the former ROOT Member knew without a doubt that his boyfriend could defeat Orochimaru with relative ease now. That wasn't necessarily the case for him though.

"There are many bloodline Clans that are like your own." Orochimaru pauses as he eyes Sai, clearly not sure what to make of his presence there. "Nearly wiped out with only one or a handful of members left."

Sasuke eyes narrow. It was apparent hat he was thinking what Sai was thinking. Orochimaru was meddling with things that he had no business meddling with. Namely, Sasuke's lovelife.

"I'm aware of that." His voice was suddenly like ice.

Orochimaru glances at Sai again and back to Sasuke. "It's become rather apparent to me that aren't attracted to women." He knew.

The Sannin knew that he and Sasuke were together. Whether that was because of intuition or Orochimaru had been spying on them, Sai didn't know. In some ways, he didn't care.

What mattered was that he knew. "I don't need your help to find a lover and even if I did prefer men, I fail to see what that would have to do with combining any bloodlines." Sasuke's voice was hard, but his grip on his sword was harder.

"Sasuke, you misunderstand me." Orochimaru coos at him. "I only want to help you get what you want and gain some valuable insights into human biology in the process."

"And you misunderstand him." Sai hisses. "I believe that Sasuke's made it quite clear he wants you to go." Every second that the other ninja stayed there, the artist grew more and more agitated.

"He's right about that." Sasuke turns his attention back to his painting. "I do."

* * *

Elsewhere Kakashi sighs as he listens to one of his scouts give their report. In this case, Shino. His insects were invaluable in a situation like this.

Orochimaru was an experienced ninja. He was more than capable of realizing when his village had been breached in most cases, but even he wouldn't necessarily suspect a fly of being a spy.

"I'm afraid that they must be hiding their more exotic medical research better than before." Shino shakes his head. "My insects didn't see anything like what you were referencing."

That causes the Hokage to frown. Orochimaru was quite clever and if he wanted to, the silver haired ninja knew that he was quite capable of hiding his experiments. The Sannin could also make his life very, very difficult if he wanted to.

"I see." He rubs his temples. "Well thank you for trying, Shino." The CopyCat Ninja suddenly felt a migraine coming on.

He'd approach Sasuke about this. Kakashi knew that much. What he didn't know is what his student would say.

Sasuke wanted a family. That much was obvious. He was also gay. So that meant that if he took a lover, that lover couldn't be the biological parent of their child. Until now.

"Of course, Lord Hokage." Shino bows respectfully, before darting off as quickly as he had come.

He honestly couldn't predict how his most elusive student would react to Orochimaru's outrageous offer. Would he be disgusted? Would he be intrigued but concerned about the safety of any children sired using this method? Would he be thrilled and take Orochimaru up on it despite the risks?

Each possibility seemed just as likely as the next and Kakashi couldn't lie. That was deeply troubling to him.

"I suppose only time will tell." He sighs as he pours himself a glass of sake.

* * *

Orochimaru raises an eyebrow at that. To say the least, he was less than pleased about Sasuke's less than enthusiastic response. That wouldn't stop him though.

He had done this specifically for his former student. There was no way that he was going to let such marvelous genes go to waste merely because Sasuke preferred men.

"So you do not wish for your child to share your genes and the genes of someone you care about." He smiles at him slyly. "You would rather use a surrogate or not have children?"

Sasuke twitches as he sets the brush down. "I said that I wanted you to leave." Orochimaru remained undaunted though.

After all, fortune favored the bold and he was a Sannin. He wouldn't give up that easily.

"Naruto, perhaps?" He pauses as adds almost as an afterthought. "Jugo could be a good choice or even Suigetsu." Granted for power, Naruto would be his first recommendation, but Jugo for his general temperament when he was in control of himself was a better choice. "One of them could make an excellent second father to your child." And well Suigetsu's bloodline was a rather diverse one.

 _ **SMACK!**_ Before Orochimaru knew what was happening, he felt a fist collide with his face. With bone crushing force.

At first, he had assumed it was Sasuke. When he looked up as he clutches his now bloody and broken nose though, Orochimaru saw that wasn't true. It was Sai who had attacked him!

He was so shocked, that he wasn't even angry at first. "Perhaps, Sasuke would be interested in your offer, but the decision as to who fathers his child should be left up to him." The boy was practically seething with rage.

So that's what it was then. The artist had feelings for Sasuke and judging by the fact that the Uchiha hadn't become enraged at the other's overprotective gesture, it seemed to a certain extent those feelings were not entirely one-sided.

Hmm. Sai wouldn't have been his first choice, but the boy must have some talents. Danzo wouldn't have taken an interest in him, if he didn't. That much was glaringly obvious.

"Yes, of course." Orochimaru glances at the canvas.

Hmm. It seemed that Sasuke had decided to paint a picture of himself. It wasn't bad, Orochimaru notes. Sasuke likely would never be a great artist, but it was at least proficient.

Sasuke forms a Chidori in his hand. "Yes, now go." He was practically growling at the Sannin now. "I'll think it over and let you know what my decision is later!"

Orochimaru nods and quickly leaves. After all, he wasn't suicidal. And that was precisely what one would have to be in order to anger Sasuke beyond a certain point.

* * *

"That man needs to learn to take no for an answer." Sai half seethes.

Though Sasuke knew that his anger was directed at Orochimaru, it was still disturbing. It was disturbing to hear that much hatred in Sai's voice about anything. The Uchiha hadn't thought that Sai was capable of such things, but apparently he very much was.

He supposed that no matter how much training one went through, certain human instincts would always be there. Whether that was love or hatred. It was nearly impossible to alter the human psyche completely.

Sasuke sighs and nods. "Yeah. He does." He gestures towards his painting.

He really didn't want to show this one to Sai. Sai was going to be upset, but well the artist had asked Sasuke to paint what he feared. So that's exactly what he had done.

"You drew yourself?" Sai tilts his head in confusion. "You're afraid of yourself?"

Sasuke could see that he had confused his boyfriend. That was only to be expected though. Unfortunately, that meant he was going to have to explain why he had painted himself now.

"Yes." The last Uchiha looks at him. "That's what I'm afraid of most."

Sai shakes his head and places his hand on Sasuke's cheek. "Why?" Why? It was such a simple question, but the answer was anything, but.

There were so many things, but it all essentially boiled back down to one underlying caught. _He could do it again._ Sasuk could succumb to the darkness again and maybe, this time Naruto wouldn't be around to pull him out of it.

That was a terrifying though. Why the blonde hadn't given up on him sooner like almost everyone else, well Sasuke doubted he'd ever understand. He was lucky that Naruto hadn't though. Who knows what would have happened to him otherwise?

"I don't want to fall into that trap again." Sasuke sighs as he kisses the palm of Sai's hand. "That darkness."

He could do it again. It'd be easy, but pulling himself back out of it would be nearly impossible.

Sai smiles at him reassuringly. "You won't." That smile could melt a glacier, Sasuke decides.

"What makes you think that?" He whispers.

The artist smiles and kisses him. "It's in your kiss." That made no sense to Sasuke, but he kisses back.

Kissing the other man always felt good and he'd take what he could get. It had been such a long time since had felt good about anything other than mastering new Jutsus, that the sensation had been almost foreign at first.

Thankfully, it had gradually become less so and Sasuke was very grateful for that fact. Grateful for Sai and Hell, even to Kakashi. If Kakashi hadn't sent the artist to him, Sasuke probably never would have given Sai more than a second glance.

Things were different now though, he thinks to himself as he breaks the kiss. "I'm not sure how you think you can tell that form a kiss, but would you care to enlighten me?" They were together and to a certain extent, that was all that mattered.

They could figure out the rest later. Right now, he was more than content just to _be_ with Sai and that wasn't something he had had before. It was something that he wanted more of though.

"People who have given themselves over to the darkness or are considering doing it again, they don't kiss like that." Sai smiles at him. "I know that much for a fact."

Who would have know that the pervert could be so romantic. Sasuke smiles at that. Sai was just full of surprises.

"So what are you planning on having me paint tomorrow?" He looks at his boyfriend pointedly. "Because I know that you've got something planned. Something big." And if Sai bothered to deny it, Sasuke was definitely going to call bullshit on that lie!

"Oh I don't know." Sai smiles at him teasingly. "Maybe, I'll finally ask you to paint your kunai for me."

Sasuke twitches. Every single time that he thought Sai was a romantic, the idiot just had to go and ruin the moment with a perverted comment like that! Did he get off on being slapped or something?

"You wish." Sasuke hisses.

Sai just laughs as he kisses Sasuke's forehead. "Of course, I do." He smiles at him slyly. "Though if you would rather show me what it looks like rather than creating a representation, that would be even better."

Yep. Sai definitely liked being smacked. That was the only logical conclusion that Sasuke could come up with to explain his boyfriend's very strange behavior.

"Keep dreaming." Sasuke rolls his eyes.

Sai smiles pleasantly as if he wasn't the least bit deterred by the raven haired ninja's response. "Of course. Though I believe that is what is more commonly referred to as a wet dream."

Sasuke blinks and just gapes at the artist. Honestly, one never had any idea what was going to come out of his mouth next! The damn pervert!

"Sai, has anyone ever told you that you have issues?" Sasuke sighs.

"Oh all the time." Sai nods cheerfully. "It's just no one ever tells me what those issues are."


	9. Chapter 9

Kunais and Paintbrushes

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

 **Chapter Notation:** I know that I'm evil. Happy reading!

Chapter 9

 _It was Sunday and Sasuke wanted to rip his hair out for more than one reason._ The main reason was because he didn't know what he was supposed to do with Sai after Sunday. The second reason was because his best friend was being really, really annoying!

"So then Jugo said that Suigetsu was just acting like a jerk because he thought I was cute!" Naruto flails dramatically as if this was the end of the world. "Can you believe that?!"

Sasuke rolls his eyes at this. Apparently, the blonde had decided because Sasuke was gay that meant the last Uchiha wanted to deal with Naruto's sexual identity crisis. It most certainly did not.

Now, he had to figure out how to make the Loser go away, so that he could talk to Sai. Preferably alone! Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Much easier.

"Yes, I can believe it." It did surprise him a bit that Suigetsu had a thing for Naruto, but it didn't surprise Sasuke to find out that the sword lover was gay. "So what are you going to do about it?"

Anyone that had an obsession with that many phallic shaped objects, well it was suspicious to say the least. Not that there was anything wrong with having an interest in swords, kunais, paintbrushes, or whatever one's favorite metaphor for _**that**_ particular piece of human anatomy was. Far from it.

It was just that such things made it far more likely that someone was gay. Well at least in Sasuke's mind. He might prefer men, but that didn't mean he was an expert in such things. At best, he was a novice and at worst, the Uchiha was an amateur when it came to such things.

"I don't know!" Naruto paces around the living room in a rather comical fashion. "It's just weird! You know?!"

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. He was pretty sure that the blonde was the last one who should be calling anyone weird over something as mild as a sexual preference.

It seemed he was going to have to set Naruto straight. "It's not weird. Most people prefer the opposite gender and some prefer their own. And then you have people who like both." Pun intended.

"Yeah." The blonde nods his head in understanding. "I guess you're right. I just never thought that a guy would like me that way."

These people were really trying to make Sasuke get eyestrain. He just knew it. There was no other logical explanation.

He sighs and decides it was best just to be blunt. "You kissed me twice and the thought never occurred to you that you might like men?" Honestly, Naruto was his best friend, but he could be really dense sometimes!

"Well those were accidents!" Naruto protests.

Alright. That was a fair point. Still, Sasuke really wanted to get the blonde out of there and soon. It was Sunday. The most important day of his relationship with Sai! His best friend had chosen a horrible day to have a sexual identity crisis!

"Whatever." He'd just have to make this simple for the idiot. "Do you like him or not?"

Naruto's eyes widen to the size of saucers. "What do you mean?" Great. Apparently, even simple wouldn't do.

"Are you attracted to him in the way that I'm attracted to Sai?" Sasuke was going to have to take drastic measures, it seemed. "Do you want to kiss him on purpose?!"

"I don't know." Naruto frowns. "I've never really thought about it, but he does have really pretty eyes."

Really pretty eyes? Uh huh. Right. Whatever. Whatever worked. Sasuke just wanted some privacy in his own damn home! Whatever happened to people respecting private property?!

He shakes his head at the thought. "Well go tell him that and see where it goes." Naruto had happened apparently.

"Um right." Naruto grins at him. "I guess it doesn't hurt to try." To which Sasuke just nods encouragingly.

"Exactly." He shoves Naruto out of the living room and through the front door of his house. "So go and talk to him. I've got artist lessons today. I'll see you later!"

Naruto nods dumbly as he bounds off. The idiot was in shock, Sasuke decides. He'd deal with that later. Right now, he had to focus on what he was going to say to Sai.

* * *

Orochimaru shakes his head back in the Sound. He honestly didn't understand it. Why would Sasuke be so hostile towards the idea of his help? He'd never turned down the chance for power before.

"So he said no?" Kabuto tilts his head to the side in confusion. "That's not like him."

Make no mistake about it, that's what Sasuke had done. He was hesitating to take power. After all, restoring his Clan would only cement his power and Orochimaru was offering him the strongest children possible. Yet, his former protégé was hesitating. It didn't make any sense to him.

The Sannin sighs as he tries to figure it out. "Not exactly." There was only one possibility that he hadn't foully considered yet.

Sasuke was actually in love with this Sai character. Which while not idea, he could tolerate. As he noted previously, Danzo had expressed a special interest in the boy. Surely, there must have been some sort of reason!

"What did he say?" The silver haired medic looks at him quizzically.

Orochimaru sighs again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "He more or less said that he would think about it as he chased me off." With the help of his lover.

He supposed he could see why Sasuke would be attractive to the artist. He had a pleasant face and there was something to be said for the creative types. Though honestly, he wouldn't have thought the last Uchiha would fall so quickly and easily.

One of the things that he had most admired about Sasuke was his maturity. Children dwelled on friendship and wished for love. Adults knew better.

Adults knew that the world was a cruel place. "That's unlike him." That fairytales were just that. Fairytales.

It was a far smarter strategy to deal with the reality of the situation. While he did hope that Sasuke found happiness with his new plaything, it was disturbing. Disturbing to see how little Sasuke was thinking clearly these days.

Sai was clearly a bad influence on Sasuke. If this kept up, he would have to go. The Sannin wouldn't allow it. He wouldn't allow Danzo's former lackey to put out Sasuke's fire. Such an outcome would be utterly unacceptable!

"Indeed it is." He sighs as he looks at Kabuto. "Do we have any volunteers in the Sound?"

They might as well do some more preliminary testing. Sasuke would come around. Eventually. He'd just have to be patient.

Kabuto nods at him and smirks. Clearly, the medic was feeling rather pleased with himself. "I have about a dozen or so suggestions for potential matches." He hands Orochimaru a folder. "Tell me what you think."

The files looked rather thick, Orochimaru muses to himself as he opens one and glances at it. Now that he did so, the Sannin realized there was good reason for that. They were rather thorough to say the least.

"You've certainly been busy." He skims the suggestions. "They're basic data, their psychological reports, their medical reports, abilities, and preferences. Interesting." He could make excellent use of this.

Kabuto smiles at him slyly. "I take it that it meets with your approval then, Lord Orochimaru?" Orochimaru nods.

"Yes, it does." He smirks at his most dedicated apprentice. "Very much so."

He'd gathered a large group of criminal ninjas over the years. Orochimaru preferred to find them when they were young and to win their loyalty that way. Every once in awhile, he would find a jewel that stuck out even amongst all the other jewels. Kabuto and Sasuke were two such examples.

"Good." He smiles. "As always, I live to serve you."

Orochimaru just wished the latter were as cooperative as the former. Oh well. One couldn't have everything, he supposed.

* * *

Back in the Leaf, Sai smiles as he heads towards the Uchiha District. It was a journey that he had made many times before now, but it was still a thrilling one.

Today was Sunday. A very special day in this case. The last official day of their art lessons and then, well Sai wasn't really sure what would come next.

He did have big plans for his favorite Uchiha today though. "There you are." The fact that Sasuke was the only Uchiha left didn't matter. (Sai was quite certain that the other man would still be his favorite, even if the entire Clan were still around. Thank you, very much)!

"Were you expecting me not to be here?" Sasuke raises an eyebrow at him. "I was waiting for you. Like I've done every day since our lessons began."

Well that was true. It was still nice to actually see the other man though. Sai was still afraid that somehow, he'd wake up and find this was all merely a dream.

That Sasuke wasn't really involved with him in a romantic sense. That he was still alone, save for the other members of Team Seven. And that just wouldn't be the same.

Romantic love and the love between comrades sometimes overlapped, but they were not necessarily in the same league. What he felt for Sasuke was completely different than what he felt for Captain Yamato, Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto. Of that much, he was certain.

"Yes, that's true." He kisses and smiles at Sasuke as he leads him to the hot springs.

The nice thing about the Uchiha District is that it was mostly private. Other than Team Seven and Taka, no one would dare to interrupt them here. That was just the way Sai liked it.

"So what are you going to have me paint today?" Sasuke stretches as Sai sets up the canvases. "One would think that you would have run out of ideas by now."

Sai smiles pleasant at Sasuke as he admires the other man's stretching. He really did have such a glorious body. It was such a shame that his almost lover seemed to have an aversion to showing it off, really.

Still, that wouldn't stop him from doing what he had to do. "I want you to paint me and I shall paint you." One way or another, he would make his point.

Sai wanted this relationship to last and he was quite certain Sasuke felt the same way. He wouldn't have chased off Orochimaru, if he didn't. He just needed to hear the words. The words that would tell him that Sasuke wasn't just going to shut him out of his life, once the lessons were over.

So he had come up with a plan. It was a gamble, but Sai was a ninja. He was used to taking risks. He just hoped that this one would pay off because he couldn't imagine his life without Sasuke in it now.

"Alright." Sasuke smiles at him. "That sounds easy enough." And with that being said, he grabs a brush and begins painting.

* * *

Elsewhere Naruto had decided to get to the bottom of this thing with Suigetsu. Whatever it was. The Bastard was right. He needed to talk to the sword lover.

He didn't know what the Hell he was actually going to say to the other man though. The blonde figured that he would just wing it. Naruto was good at that sort of thing.

He'd just speak from the heart or whatever. "You're not still sore about what Jugo said." Suigetsu was suddenly behind him in the Forest of Death. "Are you?" With his fingers pointed at Naruto's ears in the shape of a gun.

Normally, the blonde would have laughed his ass off about something like that. It was a silly gesture, but this wasn't normally. Naruto was fully aware of what Sugietsu could do in this position.

He could blow his brains out. The Hozuki Clan could make Water Bullets. And well, Water Bullets could be surprisingly deadly.

Of course, Suigetsu was deadly though. That was only to be expected. "I'm not sore about it." Orochimaru wouldn't take an interest in anyone who wasn't fully capable of becoming some sort of psycho killer with some prodding and in this regard, Suigetsu was no exception.

"Alright. Then what do you want?" The violet eyed ninja hadn't lowered his "gun," but Naruto was now reasonably confident that he wasn't actually going to shoot.

That didn't mean that the blonde had any idea how he was going to answer the other man's question though. What did he want? Did he want anything from the white haired ninja?

Did he want to be his boyfriend? Did he want him to buzz off? Did he want Suigetsu to answer his questions about how two men could even be _together, together_ in that respect?!

He tilts his head warily as he looks into those beautiful otherworldly eyes. "I don't really know what I want." Naruto might as well be honest, he figured.

Lying just wasn't something that he was good at. It was probably counterproductive. To be a ninja and a bad liar, but that was just the way Naruto was wired. And he doubted that was going to change anytime soon.

"You're thinking about this way too much." Suigetsu shakes his head.

Well yeah! He'd never had a guy hit on him before, even if it was indirectly! Naruto didn't know what to think!

"And you're eyelashes are way too pretty to be a guy's." That and the color. "And what kind of guy has violet eyes?"

The Sound Ninja smirks. "Well I could say the same about your baby blues." He shakes his head. "Now stop making this difficult and let me fuck you. If you don't like what's going on, we can stop. Think of it as a freebie!" He smiles cheerfully.

 _ **THUD!**_ That was just a little too much for Naruto process. So he falls over and passes out.

Suigetsu blinks as he pokes Naruto with a stick. "I've heard of blushing virgins before, but never fainting ones." Well, that wasn't a no.

At least, it wasn't a no exactly. He'd just have to wait until Blondie woke up to get an official answer from him. Oh well. He could wait.

"Might as well get some sword practice in." He smirks as he does exactly that.

* * *

A few hours later, Sasuke smiles at his final painting. He doubted that he'd ever be a master painter, but even with one week of instruction…Sasuke felt like his artistic skills had improved rather dramatically.

"All done?" Sai smiles at him pleasantly.

Sasuke nods and gestures to his picture. "Yep. All done." He had just drawn a full body picture with Sai standing outside by the hot spring. With a smile on his face.

Not the fake smiles that the artist used to give to him though. This was a real smile. A genuine smile. The kind of smile that Sai now gave him on a regular basis, but still managed to take his breath away with astonishing ease.

The kind of smile that made him believe. "It's very nice." Made him believe that somehow, this could work out. "I'm quite flattered." That maybe, he wasn't cursed for life.

Maybe, he wouldn't bring bad luck upon everyone who was foolish enough to care about him. "As you should be." And made it possible for him to smile or smirk, even when Sasuke still had so many uncertainties lingering in his mind.

"Of course." Sai smiles at Sasuke and caresses his cheek. "Would you like to see my picture of you?" He gestures towards the other canvas.

Sasuke nods as he heads over and looks at it. "I don't actually look like that." Sasuke knew what his reflection looked like and it wasn't like that.

This person was practically ethereal or even divine. It was as if the Moon itself had been given human form with hair dark as the night sky and eyes to match along with luminous pale skin. Skin that reminded Sasuke of moonlight and he was smiling. A dazzling smile.

Dazzling wasn't a word that Sasuke used often, but it was too accurate in this case to ignore. Was this really how Sai saw him?

* * *

"Hey, have you seen Naruto?" Sakura looks Karin on the other side of the village.

The red head shakes her head. She had no idea where her cousin had gone. The same could be applied to Suigetsu as well though.

Maybe, they were training. "I think that they're probably just training and trying to ignore what Jugo said about them." She shrugs.

Men could be incredibly thick headed at times. There were times when it was just utterly impossible to reason with the. Oh who was she kidding? That was most of the time!

"Oh boy." Sakura sighs as she shakes her head. "I hope those two idiots don't end up burning down the forest or something!"

Karin rubs the back of her head sheepishly in response. In most cases, when someone said something like that…it was just exaggeration. With Suigetsu and Naruto though, it wasn't.

"Well I'd be more worried about them flooding it than that, but I do get your general point." Maybe, they should go and check on them. "Come on. Lets go. We've got a man-made disaster to prevent!"

Sakura nods in agreement and the two girls quickly dart off towards the Forest of Death. After all, that was where the two boys were most likely to be. It was ironically enough, their favorite place to train!

* * *

"You look like that to me." Sai smiles as he takes some tape and pushes the canvases together, putting them in one piece. "One day, you'll be able to see yourself that way as well."

Sasuke smiles at him as he watches the artist. "I doubt it, but with you…it might be possible." He could feel the other man's eyes on him and it made him happy.

Really, it was disturbing in a way. The degree to which Sai had grown dependent on Sasuke for his own happiness. So this was what love was like, he muses himself. To want someone more than anything else.

A beautiful insanity. One that defied all reason, but made you forget why that should bother you. Who would have thought that he would fall in love with the man who he had once been assigned to kill?

"Good. I'm glad to hear that." Sai smiles and kisses him. "And I must say that your painting skills have improved tremendously since we began our lessons.

Sasuke nods in agreement as he returns the artist's kiss and squeezes his ass. "Mmm. That's because I had a _very_ good teacher." Sasuke smiles slyly at him.

That smile was enough to make Sai feel as though a colony of butterflies had taken up residence in his stomach. It was a most peculiar, but strangely pleasant feeling. Then again, that described most of his relationship with Sasuke Uchiha. Sai doubted that was ever going to change really and for some reason, the Leaf Ninja found that he didn't want it to.

He didn't want their relationship to change. Sai was quite happy with their current arrangement. Most people would have thought him insane for becoming romantically involved with someone who could literally level mountains, but that didn't matter. All that mattered as them.

The rest of the world as far as Sai was concerned, well it could go to Hell. If it had a problem with him being with Sasuke, it could go straight to Hell. "Well I'm always glad to help others learn to appreciate the beauty that is artistic expression." He smirks when he feels the last Uchiha's hands on his backside.

Sasuke had never been that bold with him before. "That's good to know." The raven haired ninja whispers hotly into his ear. "Would you mind showing me other ways to _express_ myself?"

Sai liked where this was going. It sounded like they were finally going to go further than kissing! He had been waiting for this for what seemed to be an eternity!

"I would be more than happy to teach you how to express yourself in whatever manner _arouses_ your interest." Sai smirks at the very thought.

Sasuke laughs and shakes his head as he takes Sai's hand and leads him back to the house. The artist might very well be at least half insane to want anything to do with him, but the last Uchiha had made up his mind. He wanted the other man and that was that.

"You've got a rather unconventional way of expressing your love for someone." Sasuke pushes Sai onto the couch and straddles his hips. "But you do manage to get your point across."

He had put their paintings together. Sai saw them as being together. Sai didn't even mind that he wanted a family. Obviously, the ROOT Member's feelings for him ran far deeper than he could ever had any right to expect.

Though whether or not, he deserved Sai was irrelevant. All that mattered was that Sasuke was suddenly rather interested in comparing kunais and paintbrushes in a way that he had never been before Sai.

"Good." Sai smiles at him. "I'm glad." His hand cups Sasuke's cheek. "So very glad."

Sasuke nods and bites his lower lip. "I want you to be my first." The desire was there, though everything he knew about this particular area was all theoretical. "My first and only, but you're going to have to teach me."

In the back of his mind, Sasuke wondered if it was the same for Sai. He pushes that thought to the side though. It didn't matter.

All that mattered is Sai was his now and he wanted to be with him. In every way possible. And for once, he was really hoping not to get cockblocked by either of his teams or a crazy Sannin!

"That's alright." Sai smiles at him slyly. "As you know, I'm a _very_ thorough teacher." His smile slowly transforms from sly to outright seductive in short order as he slides Sasuke's shirt off of him. "So you don't have to worry." And reaches for his pants. "About anything."

That sounded good. Sasuke smiles and kisses Sai as he reaches for the zipper of the other man's pants. There was really no need to beat around the bush in his mind.

Leave the flowers and chocolates to traditional romantics like Naruto. He had no need for dates. He had learned everything he needed to know about Sai through art.

His art was how Sai expressed what was in his heart. Not by taking someone to the movies or holding their hands in public. They didn't need sappy declarations of love. Just them. Just trust and well quite a lot of lust. And Sasuke wouldn't have it any other way.


	10. Chapter 10

Kunais and Paintbrushes

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 10

Sasuke couldn't believe that he was actually doing this. Not only was he in a relationship with Sai, but he was about to take that relationship to another level. A very physical one.

"Shouldn't we go back inside?" He knew enough about intimacy to realize that certain considerations needed to be taken when two men became lovers. "I have…something we can use."

Sai smiles at him and kisses Sasuke. "That's very thoughtful of you, but don't worry." He smiles and reaches into his kunai pouch, pulling something out. "A good ninja should always be prepared for any situation!"

The last Uchiha tries his best not to gape at his boyfriend. "You seriously carried _**that**_ around in your kunai pouch?!" Sai really was such a pervert!

Sai nods as if it was the most natural thing in the world to carry around such a thing. In hindsight, Sasuke probably should have expected something like this though. Sai was Sai.

"Of course." He smiles at him pleasantly. "Once we started dating, well I was hopeful." The other ninja caresses Sasuke's cheek. "Who wouldn't be? Besides, it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."

Well that was true. "Sai, just shut up and kiss me." Though this was all making his head hurt a bit.

Thankfully, his soon to be lover didn't have any problem doing exactly that. Sai kisses him in such an amazing way, that it left Sasuke almost breathless.

 **Warning Lemon**

"I can do that." Sai smiles at him slyly, after breaking the kiss. "Though you didn't say where you wanted me to kiss you." Well that was true.

God only knows what his boyfriend was up to now though. Sasuke shakes his head in amusement as he undoes Sai's shirt and slides it over his head. He might as well go with it.

The other ninja seemed that confident about this. "Wherever you like and I'll do the same for you." Sasuke smirks as he runs his hands over the artist's sleek chest.

Sleek, but muscular. Sasuke had never been particularly bulky himself, but Sai in some ways was petite compared to him. He was all compact muscle. A subtle masculinity and well, it was beautiful. As beautiful as any of the artist's precious paintings.

"That does sound nice." Sai sighs in contentment at the gentle touches.

Deciding he liked those sounds, Sasuke continues his explorations further south. He pushes off Sai's pants and boxers in short order. Maybe this was why Sai was always calling Naruto Dickless. He did have a rather large paintbrush to say the least.

He was thick too. "Tell me, if I'm doing something wrong." Sasuke reaches for his erection and begins stroking him.

He'd never actually done this with anyone else before, but Sasuke figured it was similar to doing it to himself. He'd start off slow and then go faster later.

"Fuck!" The artist thrusts into his hand. "I love it when you play with my cock." Good. He must be doing something right. "Though I really shouldn't be the only one who is naked." That was a fair point.

The other ninja quickly finishes stripping the rest of the way. He was barely able to suppress a shiver as Sai's eyes roamed the length of his body without a hint of shame.

He might have been a novice when it came to such things, but Sasuke recognized that look for what it was. Desire. There was no mistaking it.

"I think part of the reason why I'm as attracted to you as I am is because of your skin." Sai smiles as he strokes Sasuke and places butterfly kisses along his jaw and neck. "It's like ivory. So light that it might as well be a canvas."

Sasuke sighs in pleasure. He would have rolled his eyes, if the other man wasn't playing with his cock better than he could. Sai seemed to know the last Uchiha's body better than he did.

He groans as heat begins to pool low in his belly. Arousal. That's what this feeling was. This feeling that felt like fire was rushing through his veins, but it wasn't a destructive fire. No. This was a beautiful one.

"Only you would get turned on by my skin." Sasuke mutters as he captures the lips of his almost lover in a heated kiss.

Well that was probably true, but Sai couldn't help it. He was an artist. An artist who had been given a beautiful canvas. How could he not take advantage of it?

He smiles as he kisses back and continues stroking Sasuke. He treasured every little moan and groan. For such a normally quiet ninja, his new lover could be quite expressive, when he wanted to be.

Sai breaks the kiss in favor of kissing Sasuke's chest. "That feels good." Nipping here and there. Just enough to leave little marks on that delicate skin as he continues pumping that large erection.

"It's supposed to. Just let me make you feel good." He really should convince Sasuke to let him do a more full body portrait one of these days. "You have a rather impressive kunai." The artist smirks as he makes his way further and further south.

"So do you." Sasuke sighs in pleasure as he runs his fingers through Sai's short dark hair.

It was soft and so were his lips. His lips that were everywhere and a moment later, that thought proved to be extremely accurate because Sai wraps them around the tip of his cock and made Sasuke moan.

Fuck! Whatever he had been expecting, that hadn't been it! "You taste good!" Sasuke dared himself to look down and sees that the artist at some point had sunk to his knees and his face was now situated between Sasuke's thighs as he sucked him off.

"You feel good!" Perhaps, not his smoothest line, but it was true. So very fucking true!

Sai smirks at that as he bobs his head up and down the length of Sasuke's cock and lathers one hand in lubrication. After all, he doubted that Sasuke had ever done this before. So it was important to properly prepare him.

His own erection was so intense that it was almost painful, but Sai could be patient. One had to know how to handle paintbrushes when you were an artist. You didn't want to rush. You took your time, if you wanted the best results and well, that same knowledge could easily be applied to sex in his opinion.

Sasuke groans. "J-Just like that." He really liked oral sex, Sai decides.

Then again, he supposed most men did. The thought of Sasuke sucking him off certainly was a pleasant one, Sai determines as he slowly slides one finger inside of his almost lovers. Stretching him.

One moment, everything had been an intense blur of pleasure and the next it wasn't. Sasuke was now drowning in pleasure and a rather odd sensation. It took him a moment to realize what Sai was doing.

"Relax." He smiles up at him pleasantly. "It will feel good soon."

Sasuke finds himself nodding as he groans at the feeling of Sai's wonderfully wicked tongue against his arousal. Gods and Goddesses, that felt good. Incredible really.

"A-Alright!" He manages to stammer out.

It was hard to talk when all the blood was rushing south and he was watching the mouth. That perfect mouth which was now sucking on his dick as if Sai owned it. Which was strangely hot for some reason.

Sai smiles at his reaction and adds a second finger. It didn't take too long for Sasuke's squirming to turn to heated moans he had found the other man's spot and well it was simply a glorious sight to behold.

Sai doubted that there would ever be anything as beautiful as Sasuke writhing in pleasure. One of his eyes was ruby red and other an ethereal shade of lavender. The Sharingan and Rinnegan could apparently also be activated by arousal, he decides. Well that was interesting to note.

He was hitting a spot that made Sasuke see stars. Shit! He had of course known in theory that spot existed, but it had never actually been touched before. It was almost too much. It almost felt too good and yet, it wasn't enough at the same time.

"I want you to get in the water with me." Sai slides his fingers out of Sasuke as he releases him from his mouth.

Sasuke bite back a whimper at the loss of contact. He was so close. The last Uchiha had been right on the edge of orgasm and his lover had just stopped! It was almost cruelty really!

"Don't worry." Sai smiles at him slyly as he sits in the hot spring. "I have every intention of making you cum as often as you want."

He just wanted Sasuke on the edge. That would make the feelings more intense and the "stealing" of his innocence far less painful. Though Sai supposed you couldn't really steal what was being freely given, it was the principle of the thing.

The artist highly doubted that Sasuke had ever allowed anyone else to do this. Had ever allowed anyone to touch him in that way. And that thought sent a wave of pure, raw lust crashing straight through his body.

He'd never wanted anyone this much. Sai hadn't known that he was capable of feeling this. This need for someone else, but apparently he was. There were some things that even ROOT couldn't beat out of a person, it seemed.

"You better keep that promise." Sasuke shakes his head as he joins Sai in the water and sits in his lap. "Because I'm probably not going to bottom again after this."

Sai chuckles at that as he claims Sasuke's mouth in a heated kiss. "Well I can work with probably not. That's not an impossible and I certainly don't mind the thought of you on top of me."

Sasuke was a bit surprised about that. Then again, maybe he shouldn't have been. Sai was clearly someone who didn't mind following orders. Maybe, he got turned on by that type of thing.

"Good to know." Sasuke brushes his entrance against Sai's arousal. "So what are you waiting for?"

Sai laughs softly at that as he looks at Sasuke with adoring eyes. "Well I don't want to hurt you." And he grabs the lubrication, coating his erection in it. "Though I think we're ready now."

His eyes were beautiful, Sasuke thinks to himself. Filled with adoration and concern. He'd never imagined that anyone would look at him that way.

Lust or admiration was one thing. Puppy love. That's what those girls had had for him at the Academy. This was different though.

This was the real thing! "Ah!" This was love and well, it was a very physical one. "Fuck! Sai!" His lover had just swiftly slide inside him.

"Just move a bit. Slowly." He smiles at him. "Allow yourself time to adjust. Does it hurt?"

It didn't hurt. Not exactly. It felt…strange though. Like he was filled to the brim. Which Sasuke guessed that he kinda was.

Sasuke shakes his head. "No. It doesn't hurt." Besides, he knew that it would feel good soon and he couldn't resist the view.

Sai looked absolutely stunning in the hot spring. The way the sunlight was shimmering over his alabaster skin and his dark eyes were clouded with pleasure couldn't be denied. It was too beautiful to do so.

So he did what any ninja would do in his position. He ignored any discomfort and rocked against Sai. That's when he felt his lover press against that spot and he moans.

"Good." Sai kisses him passionately. "I don't think that you have any idea how beautiful you look right now. Soaking wet and covered in my marks." Between kisses, he lavishes Sasuke with praise. "And riding my dick in ecstasy. No painting could ever compare to you."

Normally, Sasuke would have smacked him for being a pervert, but it was hard to do so. This just felt too good to be angry over well anything. Eager to get more of this wondrous feeling, Sasuke bounces up and down the length of his lover's cock and moans as the water splashes them with every movement.

The water looked gorgeous against his bare skin and clinging to his hair. There was something almost enchanting about a wet Sai, Sasuke decides as his lover being slamming into him with a reckless abandon.

"You feel so good!" Sai practically growls at him.

The young artist didn't know he could make that sound, but apparently he could. Sasuke was so hot and tight. He fit against him perfectly and the sight of his lover riding him was more than enough to make him come undone.

He should have been more gentle. "So do you!" It just felt too good to resist though.

Sai had heard the word bliss before, of course. His vocabulary was strong, but he'd never experienced it to this extent. This was pure bliss. He would never get enough of this. Sai knew that much.

He kisses Sasuke heatedly, before covering his neck in squeezes and squeezing that firm ass of his. There were many benefits of being a ninja. One of them was that the rigorous training tended to sculpt bodies rather well. Another was endurance and well, Sai was planning on taking advantage of both tonight.

Every thrust made Sasuke feel like he was flying. If he tilted his head back enough, he could see Sai partially entering him. His face was towards Sai's though for the most part. Utterly hypnotized by those soulful eyes.

He couldn't resist running his hands along Sai's abs. "I'm close!" Or bite back his moans when Sai goes back to stroking him and slams into him harder and faster.

The water was splashing around them everywhere now. "Then don't hold back." Neither of them cared though and Sasuke was helpless to resist the command in his lover's voice.

He came fast and hard. Sai soon joined him complete and utter ecstasy. That was only the beginning though. The rest of the night was spent in a blur of passion.

By the time they were both sated, the Sun had not only set, but it had risen again. "Wow." Sasuke mutters as his lover finally slides out of him.

"Yes, I've never had such an enjoyable start to a Monday Morning either." Sai smiles pleasantly at him.

 **End of Lemon**

Sasuke could only roll his eyes at his lover. "You've never had such an enjoyable start to a Monday Morning either?" He was trying his best not to gape at his lover. "That's what you're going with?" Unbelievable.

Sai watches him in amusement and nods. It was always delightfully entertaining to watch the other man's emotional displays. And even more so when the artist knew he was the reason for the last Uchiha performing them.

It warmed his heart to realize that he played such an important role in Sasuke's life. Whether or not, Sasuke realized this when he acted out was unclear. Sai supposed in some ways it didn't matter. Everything about his new lover fascinated him to one degree or another.

"Yes, that's what I'm going with." He laughs.

Sasuke snorts at that. "You're such an idiot." Sai was about to protest that, but the Uchiha continues on before he could. "You're lucky that I love you and I don't mind the fact that you're an idiot."

Well it was far from a romantic declaration, but the feelings were certainly there. And at the end of the day, that's what mattered most.

"Yes, I am very lucky." Sai smirks. "Because I just got lucky."

Sasuke shakes his head at his bad pun, but he smiles anyway. The other ninja really did have such a beautiful smile. Sai decides that he was definitely going to have to capture it in a painting.

Well at least, he was going to try. There were some things that were simply too beautiful to be captured in such a way. Sai strongly suspected that Sasuke's smile was one of them.

* * *

Meanwhile Naruto was pacing. He honestly didn't know what he was going to do about Suigetsu. What could he do?

"Did you really faint on him?" Sakura stares at her friend in disbelief. "Seriously?"

Yeah. Naruto had fainted on him. Though in his defense, how was he supposed to know that the sword lover was going to say something that outrageous. Well actually, he should have.

Suigetsu was Suigetsu. Outrageous was kinda his thing. There were very few times when the former Criminal Ninja was not being outrageous. And that was certainly saying something considering who he was.

He was Naruto Uzumaki! "Yeah. I mean…come on!" The Leaf's Number One Most Hyperactive, Unpredictable, Knuckleheaded Ninja! "What else was I supposed to do?!" The blonde was far from predictable himself and he knew it!

"I don't know." Sakura rolls her eyes. "Maybe answer him or at least stay conscious?"

Ha! That was easy for Sakura to say! She didn't have Suigetsu asking her to let him well yeah! Do _**that**_ with her! Naruto felt completely justified in his fainting, really!

She just didn't understand though. "Yeah. Well that's in the past and it doesn't really help me figure out what I should do now?" He sighs.

Naruto had even asked Sasuke for help about this! _**SASUKE!**_ The Bastard who was likely never going to let him live any of this down and it still hadn't helped!

It should have though! Sasuke was actually involved in a relationship with another man! He should know what to do in situations like this!

"Well obviously, you go and talk to him again." Sakura shrugs as the sapphire eyed ninja deflates a little at her advice.

Go and talk to him?! That's what he had done the last time and they could all clearly see how well that had _**not**_ worked out! "Yeah. I guess." Though obviously, Naruto couldn't say that out loud!

Sakura would never let him hear the end of it, if he did! "There is no guessing!" Sakura kicks him in the rear, literally. "Go and do it!" She had gotten so bossy lately!

Really, it was probably Granny Tsunade's fault. Sakura used to be bossy before, but never this much. Then again, that might just be because of the war. They had all been through a lot!

"Alright! Alright!" He shakes his head as he heads towards the door. "I'm going!" They had been discussing this in his apartment.

Sakura places her hands on her hips and nods approvingly. "Good and I will ask him, if you talked to him." Damn it. "So don't even think about trying to weasel your way out of this!" That just wasn't fair!

"Awe man!" He grumbles and heads off. "I'm so screwed."

* * *

At that same moment, Kakashi was once again facing off with Orochimaru. It was truly a battle of wills in the Hokage Office and neither man was budging. To say the least, the CopyCat Ninja was not happy.

Orochimaru's behavior was unacceptable to say the least. Kakashi simply couldn't tolerate this. Not with the other man's history.

"You look rather irritated." Orochimaru smirks.

As if the Sannin didn't know why, the silver haired man thinks to himself rather bitterly. Irritated was putting it mildly, but he wasn't here to quibble about the accuracy of terms. He was here to ensure that the other man didn't meddle with Sasuke's life. Again!

It was bad enough that the Sannin had lured his student away before he had even become a Chunin, but this was ridiculous! Orochimaru had no right to interfere with his former pupil's personal life like this!

Oorchimaru wasn't really Sasuke's instructor. "I heard that you ended up in the Uchiha District." Not really. The older ninja had just wanted to steal Sasuke's body and they all knew it.

Maybe, in his own strange way, the other man cared about Sasuke though. Even if he did, that didn't matter. Not really. What mattered was that the Hokage wasn't going to allow the Sannin to intervene like this. This sort of thing should be left purely up to Sasuke and Sai.

Kakashi had secretly been monitoring their art lessons. It had been his idea, after all. So it was only natural that he would and both of them would have been foolish to assume otherwise.

He was Hokage now. "Perhaps, I did." Nothing went on in this village without him knowing about it! "What of it?"

The audacity of this man truly knew no bounds. The Sannin was actually going to pretend that he didn't understand what the problem was. That he couldn't fathom why the Hokage would be upset by his presence in the Uchiha District?!

It was an insult to his intelligence. Kakashi was normally a rather even tempered man. He supposed that it came from years of being a ninja. He had seen so much suffering and so much pain, that after awhile…he had developed something of an immunity.

That wasn't the case here though. No! This was an outrage! How could he not responds to such a deliberate provocation?!

"I think you know very well why that is a problem." His eyes narrow. "Why I don't want you anywhere near Sasuke." Or Sai.

Orochimaru actually has the gall to laugh. "Well be that as it may, I have violated no laws." Technically, that was accurate since the end of the war. "And it's his private property. If Sasuke wishes for me to leave, I will."

Obviously, he did. The other man wouldn't be slinking around in this fashion, if he had gotten his way. That much was clear as day. Well at least it was to Kakashi, anyway.

"You're technically right." Though that didn't meant the silver haired man was going to give up without a fight. "Though I am Hokage. Give me the slightest excuse and I will ensure that you are never allowed in this village again!"

Sasuke was one thing. He had been a child. A child intent on avenging his family. One could overlook his crimes fairly easily. The boy had obviously been manipulated time and time again.

That wasn't the case with Orochimaru though. No. The Sannin had always known what he was doing. Every sick experiment and betrayal, the yellow eyed ninja had known what he was doing.

He just didn't care. "I'll be sure that factor that into my further dealings with the Leaf village." Orochimaru probably never had. "Though if that happens, you won't have access to our medical supplies. So I would think carefully before you issue such threats." He gets up and heads towards the door. "Kakashi."

Never before, had the CopyCat Ninja been so tempted to throw a chair at someone. Orochimaru brought out his inner sadist. To be fair, Kakashi was positive that the Sannin did that to a lot of people though.

"I shall keep that in mind." He glares at the other man's retreating backside. "And you should keep in mind that the Leaf is not a village that you wish to have for an enemy." Orochimaru merely shrugs in response and Flickers off.

"Damn it!" Kakashi slams his fist into the table as soon as he was gone. "I just hope that Sasuke can see through that man's tricks." Or else something awful might happen.


	11. Chapter 11

Kunais and Paintbrushes

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. There is a scientific explanation in here for how Orochimaru made such a thing possible. It may or may not make sense. If it sounds logical good. If not, well just file it under the crack (silly) fic department. Happy reading!

 **Chapter Notation:** Well I debated which way I wanted to go with this story. I think at its heart this is a fairly easy going fic as far drama and fight scenes go and so I decided that we're going to go the short, happy ending route. This fic is almost certainly going to be less than 15 chapters, but it fun sometimes to try out unconventional pairings.

Chapter 11

A year had passed since Sasuke's first paint lesson with Sai and in many respects, he had never been happier. He had been reinstated as a Ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village and was now working as one of Kakashi's advisors. His friendship with Naruto, Taka, and Sakura to a lesser extent was flourishing. And well, he had Sai.

"You seem highly contemplative this evening." Sai smiles at him as Sasuke eats his bowl of tomato soup. "What's on your mind?"

He never thought that he would find love after every thing that he had done, but Sasuke had. He had found it with Sai. Now, there was only one thing left on his mind. One thing that would make him complete and it wasn't just the delicious tomato soup that Sai had given him to eat!

He bites his lower lip as he considers it. Sai had said that he was open to it before. "A lot of things." They hadn't really discussed it since then though.

No. They were more focused on each other. Hell, Sasuke had even let his lover get away with painting him without his clothing on a few times. (Something that never failed to delight the artist). And well as strange as it was, Sasuke was teaching the other man about what different emotions meant.

Naruto in particular seemed to get a kick out of that last part. One of the most emotionally stunted ninjas was teaching another ninja how to feel things. Whatever. Sasuke didn't care though. He could easily ignore the blonde's teasing.

"Well I'm listening." Sai smiles at him as he caresses Sasuke's cheek. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."

That was sweet. Sai was surprisingly sweet in his own very awkward way. Again, Sasuke blamed Danzo for that awkwardness. Then again, the artist might never have looked at him twice, if he hadn't been in ROOT to begin with.

Most normal people would never get involved with him. The other ninja had been through Hell, but it had made Sai who he was. Sai was Sai and that's what mattered most at the end of the day.

He glances at his lover with anxious eyes. "I know. It's just I don't want to pressure you into doing something that you might not be ready to do." And Sasuke wouldn't have him any other way.

"Is this your way of saying you want to paint my kunai?" Sai beams at him. "Because I don't mind letting you do an erotic painting of me!"

Sasuke almost fell off of the couch in shock at that! He didn't know why. In hindsight, the last Uchiha probably should have seen that one coming. For some reason though, he hadn't.

"No!" Honestly, Sai had to be the biggest pervert that Sasuke had ever met! "That's not what I meant!"

Sai chuckles at his protests, but nods at him in understanding. "Alright. Then what did you mean?" His eyes soften in concern.

Those eyes were really beautiful. Sai didn't need a bloodline to make them so either. They were just so kind when he wanted them to be. Dark as night, but somehow endlessly warm in a paradoxical way.

Wait. He was getting off track here. "I've been thinking about what Orochiamru said." Sasuke really needed to focus here!

It was glaringly obvious that Sai hated Orochimaru. Not that Sasuke could entirely blame him. The artist knew as well as anyone that the Sannin was the reason why Sasuke had left the Leaf in the first place.

Truthfully, Sai would have had to be a simpleton not to be worried about the snake lover's presence. "That viper says many things." Though his lover seemed to especially despise the other man.

"That's true, but this one was actually important." The last Uchiah didn't know how he felt about the Sannin in general, but he knew one thing. "It's about us. Our future." Orochimaru wouldn't gamble when it came to his life.

In his own twisted way, Sasuke was almost certain Orochimaru genuinely cared about him. Those warm feelings manifested themselves in unconventional ways to put it charitably, but they were still there. Well at least that's what he thought.

Even if they weren't though, he was the last Uchiha Orochimaru wouldn't risk his safety for that reason alone. So in a way, Sasuke trusted the Sannin.

"What could Orochimaru possibly know about our future?" Sai raises an eyebrow.

It was clear that his lover was less than pleased about Sasuke bringing the Sannin up. Unfortunately, it couldn't really be helped.

True there was always surrogacy, but Sasuke liked this idea better. He liked the idea of their child having a piece of both of them. Though he wasn't entirely certain that Sai would go for it.

Sasuke sighs and takes a deep breath as he decides just to be blunt. "Do you remember when he said it was possible for two men to be the biological father of a child? That he had found a way to do it?" And there would be a biological mother, but Sasuke didn't care too much about that last part.

As long as the mother was healthy and preferably powerful, he could live with that. In essence Orochimaru would jus combine their DNA into one entity instead of two and then the rest of the process for surrogacy would proceed as normal.

"Yes, I remember." Sai eyes him warily. "The idea of having a child with you is an appealing one, but do you really trust him?

The implication hung heavily in the air, even if it was unspoken. Sai thought he was crazy for even considering trusting Orochimaru and part of Sasuke, had to agree. The other par though, well he was happy to have this opportunity. The fact that it was the Sannin offering it didn't mean anything to him.

Sasuke nods as he tries to reassure his lover. "I trust him on this." How could he ever explain this to Sai? "He wouldn't risk the life of the last Uchiha. The Sharingan fascinates him too much as is." There was also the Rinnegan to consider.

No. Orochimaru wouldn't risk it. No matter what the other man's personal feelings on the matter were, someone like Orochimaru would see the Sharingan and especially the Rinnegan as too valuable to gamble with.

"Maybe, you're right." Sai sighs as he considers the matter. "And if he did something to me, the Sannin knows that would anger you." Which would be rather suicidal of Orochimaru to do.

Once again, there was no need to communicate fully with words. The two of them understood each other in a way that was difficult to articulate. Not even Naruto had the same bond with Sasuke.

Theirs was a bond between brothers. Which was far different from the one he had with the gorgeous artist. Their bond was the bond between lovers. Perhaps the strongest in the world.

Well at least it was the second strongest. "That's true. He wouldn't risk it." Second only to the love between a parent and a child.

It was for that love, that Sasuke was willing to risk his lover's irritation. He doubted that Sai would leave him over a request. He might say no, but Sai wouldn't leave him. They loved each other too much for that to be a real possibility.

"Alright." Sai shakes his head. "Though I will want proof." He pauses and adds. "Proof that this can be done safely. It's been a year." Sasuke nods at that. "Surely, he must have run some trials by now."

Sasuke nods again. "I imagine he has." That was a good point. "We can do that. We'll make sure it's safe first." He looks at his lover hopefully. "If it's safe though, do you want to?"

"I want to make you happy and as I've said before, the thought of having a child with you is a pleasant one." Sai smiles and kisses his forehead. "So if it's safe, I see no reason why we shouldn't."

The last Uchiha beams at the artist and the two of them head off together. They were going to the Sound. To Orochimaru. And hopefully with any lucky, they were going to have a baby.

* * *

Meanwhile Suigetsu smirks as he cuddles to Naruto after their latest Sexy Times. That's what he called it anyway. Sexy Times. Sexy Times with his Foxy.

In his mind, this made perfect sense. Naruto was the host of the Nine Tailed Fox. That meant he was a foxy. His sexy little Foxy. So that was how Sexy Times had come about.

"Do you really think that they'll do it?" Naruto looks up at him.

The two of them were laying on a bed and snuggled up. This was always a fun thing to do. Suigetsu had never thought that he would like cuddling, but life could be weird sometimes. He hadn't previously thought he had a thing for blondes either, but apparently he did.

The white haired man didn't even need to ask what his Foxy meant. "I'm not really sure." Sasuke definitely wanted kids at some point. "It's always been Sasuke's thing. Killing and wanting to have lots of babies. You know?" Though he didn't really know about Sai. "With Sai well it's hard to tell."

The artist had several reasons not to trust Orochimaru. Gods and Goddesses knew that Suigetsu certainly didn't trust the freak and that was who had the magic answer to Sasuke's issue.

He could understand wanting to have a child that was biologically yours and your lovers. It was romantic in a weird way, Suigetsu supposed that Sasuke was seemingly willing to go to such a extreme lengths just to be fair to his boyfriend, but still.

He was taking a huge risk. "Yeah. That's what I think too." And they knew it, even Naruto.

Naruto was gorgeous, funny, loyal, and well damn good at Sexy times, but he wasn't really the sharpest kunai in the pouch sometimes. Not that his blonde was dumb. It was just that he was better at reading people than strategizing.

Which was fine with Suigetsu. He was hardly an academic either. He'd rather slice people up than read books, really. That was just who he was. It was part of being a Mist Ninja, but mostly it was just his personality.

"If that was you know safe and assuming we could trust Snake Face, is that something you would want?" They'd never really talked about it. "A kid, I mean. We could always use the traditional surrogate route, if you did and you didn't want to trust Snake Face."

Well no time like the present, he supposed. Besides, there was no point in beating around the bush. He and Naruto were two very direct people. They didn't really know how to do subtle and Suigetsu doubted that was going to change anytime soon.

The blonde blinks and looks at him with a stunned expression. "H-How long have you been thinking about it?" Not that Suigetsu could blame him.

The violet eyed ninja had never broached this topic with his lover before. The lover who had passed out when the swordsmen had first hit on him and who it had only finally given into his advances when Sakura locked them in a room together.

Needless to say, the room hadn't been in great shape when they left. By the time they did though, well they had just finished some really great sex and those hickeys took a fucking week to fully disappear!

"Eh not long." It had been a spur of the moment thing to ask about really. "I just figured since we were talking about Uchiha Babies, we might as well talk about babies in general."

That had definitely made more sense in his head, Sugietsu muses. Oh well. The issue was out there now. The ball was in Naruto's court. It was up to his sexy blonde how he wanted to respond to it.

Though the violet eyed ninja didn't really know what he wanted Naruto say. Did he want to have kids with Naruto? Did he want to have them at all?

He was hardly the poster child for a father figure. "Yeah. I guess that makes sense." Still that didn't mean that the Hozuki couldn't be a good father.

Hell, if Sasuke could do it, then he could definitely do it. There was no way that he would ever let the other man show him up, if he could help it.

Privately, the white haired man knew there was a reason for that. Not only was Sasuke a cocky son of a bitch sometimes, but he was also Naruto's former teammate. The teammate who the blonde had chased across the Five Great Nations to find and even forgiven when the last Uchiha had blown his arm off!

"So what do you think?" He smiles at his lover.

So yeah. He couldn't help it. There were times that he felt a little insecure compared to Sasuke. Naruto and the dark haired ninja obviously had a powerful bond.

Fortunately, there was Sai. The violet eyed ninja highly doubted that anything could have kept Sasuke away from that guy! Those two were absolutely inseparable!

It was probably the strangest match that he had ever seen, but somehow it worked. "I'd need to think about it, but first I'd have to know if that was something you wanted." Really well, apparently.

Sasuke had never looked at another guy besides Sai as far as he could see. It was just like him and Naruto now. Maybe, they really were ready for a baby when he considered that.

The two of them were dedicated to each other. That much was obvious. "Sneaky. Turning the question back onto me like that!" And Suigetsu couldn't really imagine wanting anyone else.

That and the baby would probably be cute. This was especially true if he had Naruto's big blue eyes. For some reason, Suigetsu had decided their kid would almost certainly be a boy. Though he wouldn't have minded a girl.

That would be pretty funny. To teach the girl how to use a sword and scare off all the boys. Traumatize her instructors. Yeah. Good times. Good times.

"What can I say?" He smirks. "I learned from the best when it comes to being sneaky."

Suigetsu laughs at that. His Foxy was definitely learning how to be a badass fast. "Well I guess it might be cool." He smiles and kisses Naruto. "To have a kid of our own, I mean."

* * *

A few days later, Sai wasn't sure what to think exactly. So far everything actually seemed to be on the Up and Up. Of course, that didn't necessarily meant that it actually was and his instincts told him that trusting the Sannin was a bad idea.

"How you told Kakashi that you're considering this?" Orochimaru looks at Sasuke. "I wouldn't want to upset your Hokage." He smirks.

Ha! Sai would have laughed, if it wouldn't have made the other ninja suspicious. There was no universe in which he could envision the Sannin carrying about what Kakashi thought about him (or what anyone thought of him, really).

Well not unless it applied to whether or not the ninja could manipulate someone. Orochimaru was definitely good at that. Manipulating people. The artist doubted he had an honest bone in his body. The man only told the truth, if it benefited him in some way.

Sasuke glares at Orochimaru. "I've told him." Obviously, he didn't care for the interrogation. "He would have asked about the child's parentage eventually and I've kept more than enough secrets from him."

That was true. There were times when Sai wondered how Kakashi felt about Sasuke in general. The man must care for him to pardon the last Uchiha and to insist on art lessons, but did he feel like he was second best compared to Orocohimaru?

Sasuke had left the Leaf, but he had also left Kakashi's team. It was in a way, telling the silver haired ninja that at least at one point, Sasuke hadn't felt that he was a good enough instructor. That or he at a minimum saw the Sannin as superior in some way.

It might not have been personal and Sai doubted that twelve year old Sasuke had thought about that aspect of his decision, but it was there. "And what did he say?" Orochimaru's smirk grows wider, making Sai want to hit him even more.

This man wasn't fit to shine the Hokage's sandals. The artist truly didn't care what sort of abilities Orochimaru may possess. He simply wasn't in the CopyCat Ninja's league.

Admittedly though, he was biased. Without the silver haired ninja's help, Sai never would have gotten a chance to get to know Sasuke. They never would have gotten together. They likely never would have truly noticed each other.

Sai supposed that he would always be in Kakashi's debt, really. "He's obviously not stopping us from pursuing it. That's really all you need to know." It was petty, but the artist was happy to hear the irritation in Sasuke's voice directed at the Sannin.

Whatever his lover's feelings were towards the other man, they were not completely positive. That was good to know. It was very good to know, actually.

"Well that's very good to know." The Sannin smirks more.

 **Warning Scientific (or Silly) Explanation Scene**

He was really testing the limits of Sai's patience. "If we got through with this, how does it work?" This could be painful for all he knew and Sai did not like the thought of putting his beloved through unnecessary pain.

Orochimaru nods at Sai in acknowledgement. It was still a pity that it was Sai and not someone with a bloodline or the Nine Tailed Fox, but the Sannin would take what he could get.

If this was the only way to keep the Sharingan Bloodline flowing easily, so be it. Besides, Sasuke could have done worse for himself. "I would of course need a sample of both of your genetic material first." Though it was annoying.

It was annoying how Sai was glaring at him. It was becoming painstakingly clear that Sasuke's lover had an issue with him. That wasn't entirely surprising, but it was unfortunate.

Anything that made Sasuke feel uncomfortable about this, might make him bulk and that was just unacceptable. If that were to happen, the raven haired ninja might very well be the last Uchiha and the Sharingan bloodline would fade out of existence with his death.

Whether that was now or a hundred years from now, it would happen. "Of course." Thankfully though, at least Sasuke was being reasonable.

Which was a bit odd. He was used to his former student being the more headstrong and defiant one. Orochimaru hadn't really anticipated such a reaction from the artist though.

"After that I place the sample into a container which thanks to a very special Jutsu will go at extremely high speeds causing the very molecular structure of your DNA to spin around so fast, it will split in half and reform with the other sample. Creating new DNA that belongs to each of you and will essentially function like any other male sample of genetic material."

 **End of Scientific (or Silly) Explanation Scene**

"Oh." Sasuke blinks. "Well that makes sense."

Sai seemed less than convinced though, the last Uchiha notes. Though he knew that was only because the other man cared and that touched him deeply. More than words could ever describe.

"And how many infants have been successfully delivered using this technique." That was a good question.

Orochimaru looked entirely too smug though. "So far sixteen. All have developed normally for infants of their age thus far."

Right. Well that was good. They wouldn't be the first ones attempting this and it had been done successfully in the past.

"What do you think?" Sasuke looks at his lover.

He wouldn't do this without Sai. As much as it hurt him, Sasuke would let the matter drop or just pursue regular surrogacy, if that was what his lover wanted.

"I think it's still risky, but markedly less so than I initially anticipated." He glares at Orochimaru. "So we'll do this. I warn you though, if you try to betray us or anything goes wrong, you will be held personally responsible."

The venom in the artist's voice was enough to make even Sasuke shiver. He hadn't known that Sai was capable of using such a cold voice before, but apparently he was. He was when it came to protecting them and their potential children.

It was both terrifying and sweet at the same time. "I'll keep that in mind." Orochimaru shrugs, seeming to decide that feigning a sense of cool indifference was the best approach to dealing with such a threat. "Now, there are several factors that we should consider."

Sasuke raises an eyebrow at that. He was almost afraid to ask, but he would. There was very little that he wouldn't do for Sai or their child, after all.

"And what are those factors?" He dares himself to glance at the Sannin.

Orochimaru smiles happily. "Well the mother mostly. Do you want her to have a bloodline? Do you want to know her personally and be there for the duration of her pregnancy or do you wish to keep a respectful distance?"

That was a good point. "Would the mother want to be in contact with the child?" That could make a big difference.

"It depends on the potential mother in question." Orochimaru shrugs as if the thought mattered very little to him and it probably didn't. "Some women do and some don't." Right.

Well that wasn't very helpful. Sasuke didn't really know which would be preferable. On one hand, it'd be easier if the woman wasn't involved. On the other hand, did he really want to deny their child access to a maternal figure, if the woman was willing to be involved?

He risks at look at Sai. Hmm. No help there. It didn't look like the artist could decide either.

"The mother's is our primary concern. Everything else is secondary." He looks at Sai. "It doesn't matter to me whether she wants to be involved or not. I feel that should be up to her to decide. Unless Sai has something else in mind." It was best to include Sai in this. This child was going be his child too!

"That sounds fine to me." He eyes Orochimaru warily. "May we see a list of potential surrogate candidates and their files?" Orochimaru smirks and hands them the list.

It seemed he had been prepared for this. "Of course." And knowing Orochimaru, he likely had.

That didn't matter though. All that mattered was the fact they were going to have a child together and it was up to them to select the best woman possible to be that child's biological mother. This wasn't going to be an easy decision to make, but they would make together. So somehow, Sasuke was sure that they would make the right decision because they had to. For their baby's sake.


	12. Chapter 12

Kunais and Paintbrushes

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter because the babies are here. Happy reading!

Chapter 12

 _He really was adorable._ Adorable wasn't a word that Sai used often, but it was very accurate in this case. Itachi the Second was absolutely adorable in every way possible.

"He's perfect." Sai smiles as he holds their newborn son in his arms for the first time. "Absolutely perfect."

It had been a year since Sasuke had first asked him, if the artist wanted to have a child with him. A pregnancy generally only lasted around nine months, but it had taken them awhile to settle on who should be the surrogate.

Sasuke smiles and nods. "Yes, he is." He smiles at Anko. "Thank you."

They had finally settled on Anko. It had honestly surprised him, but the Jonin had offered to be their surrogate. He still didn't entirely understand it, but the artist would forever be in her debt.

 _"Are you two still looking for a surrogate?" Anko looked at them as she ate a dango._

 _Sasuke blinked and nodded. Obviously, he had been wondering the same thing that Sai was. What was the woman doing here?_

 _"Yes, we are." The artist had to admire Sasuke's ability adjust quickly to any situation. "Why, did you have someone in mind?" The Uchiha raised an eyebrow curiously._

 _"Of course, I did." She beamed at them. "Me."_

 _ **THUD!**_ _They both landed on their asses in shock. Neither of them had been expecting that!_

 _Sai was the first to get back on his feet. "Forgive me, but why are you offering to help us in this fashion?" To say the least, it had been a rather shocking offer._

 _"There's nothing to forgive." She shook her head. "I was at the Sound for the long time and it messed with my head." The Leaf Ninja gave Sasuke a sympathetic look. "So it's nice to see someone make it out with their sanity intact and I'd like to help."_

 _Her words sounded so sincere. Sincere enough that even Sasuke believed them. His lover nodded his head in understanding._

 _"Great." The last Uchiha smiled. "Then we'd be honored to have you as our surrogate."_

Anko was certainly formidable in own right, Sai mused. Her genes were good and she was content to let them shoulder the lion's share of parenting. Though she did want to be involved in Itachi's life to a degree.

Honestly, the artist was quite certain that she only wanted to be involved in the fun parts. Though he wasn't going to complain. Without her, there would be no baby Itachi and well, the world wouldn't be as bright.

"Cute as a button." Anko giggles.

Sasuke nods in agreement as he smiles down at the child in Sai's arms. "Yes, he is." And truer words had never been spoken in Sai's mind.

There was so much of him in their son. The boy had his ivory colored skin and raven black hair. Though Sasuke notes the texture's was decidedly Sai's. He also had the other man's smile and chin. His eyes though, well those were shaped like his own, but Anko's color. It was in his eyes that the surrogate had left her strongest mark.

"He's going to be a real heartbreaker when he grows up." Anko laughs.

Sai nods in agreement. The woman was to put it charitably rather eccentric and she certainly had sadistic tendencies, but she wasn't so bad once one got know her.

"That's true." He smiles pleasantly at her. "You seem in remarkably good spirits and little pain for a woman who has just gone through childbirth."

Anko grins at him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That's mostly because you would be amazed at the sort of painkillers Lady Tsunade has come up with. Wee, I feel like I'm flying!"

Sasuke blinks and looks at her in a semi disturbed fashion. Not that Sai could blame him. The other woman had clearly been given too high of a dose.

"Um right. Well we'll just hold Itachi until those wear off." Sasuke nods at her reassuringly.

The young mother nods at them. "Oh okay! Wee!" Yeah. She was out of her mind!

* * *

Meanwhile Suigetsu and Naruto were also in the hospital. Sasuke and Sai weren't the only male couple in the Leaf who had decided to try for children. So had they.

"Are you sure that having Karin as a surrogate was a good idea?" Suigetsu raises an eyebrow at his lover.

Naruto nods. Of course, it was a good idea. Karin was Suigetsu's teammate! Besides, she had been so happy to help them!

"Yeah." He smiles at Sakura. "So what are we having?"

Today, they were going to find out the gender of their child. Karin was now five months along and Sakura was taking care of the ultrasound. Apparently, Anko was going into labor. So Tsunade wasn't going to be available.

Which was fine. The blonde trusted his teammate to handle this. Sakura was a medic and she had been trained by Granny Tsunade herself! He was sure that the young medic could manage!

Karin nods at that. The red head wanted to know what they were having as well, Naruto guessed. Which only made sense. She was the one who was carrying the baby.

"Hmm." Sakura smiles at them. "Lets see here." She looks at the screen.

It was exciting to say the least. Naruto could see their baby! That made this all real in a way that it hadn't before.

"Looks like it's going to be a cute kid either way." Suigetsu smirks.

Karin rolls her eyes at that. "Well yeah. That's mostly because of my genes. Well and Naruto's." She gives the sword lover a rather haunty look. "Two out of three ain't bad!"

Suigetsu glares at her and Naruto laughs. Those two still fought like cats and dogs. In some ways, the red head and Suigetsu were worse than him and Sasuke!

"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?!" He glares at the red head.

Sakura shakes her head. "If you two are done fighting, I can tell you the gender." Those words were apparently just like magic, Naruto muses because the two Taka Members promptly proceed to shut up.

Really, their pink haired teammate had to teach him her secret. The blonde could never get them to behave. Then again, this was Sakura. If you didn't listen to her, she'd probably beat you senseless. So that probably had something to do with it!

"So what are we having?" Naruto smiles at Sakura.

Sakura smiles back at him. "It's a girl." Her grin grows wider with each passing second. "Congratulations and it looks like she's developing normally."

Suigetsu blinks. "A girl!" He beams. "Well that's cool! We'll teach her how to be a total badass princess!"

Naruto couldn't help, but laugh at that. Suigetsu was Suigetsu at the end of the day. You never really knew what was going to come out of his mouth.

* * *

A few days later, Sasuke smiles as he carries Itachi into the house. "Sai, you got the nursery ready, right?" The man had been working on it for months.

For some reason, he wouldn't allow Sasuke into it. At first, he had pushed and tried to sneak a peak. Eventually though, even Sasuke was forced to recognize that was an exercise in futility. Sai just wasn't going to let that happen.

"Yes, of course." The artist smiles pleasantly at him. "I've had it ready for the past month."

Right. A month. Sasuke had no idea how the other ninja had managed to keep the nursery hidden from him for so long, but he was more than eager to figure out what his lover had been working so hard on.

More than once, he had seen the artist walk in there with gallons of paint and buckets filled with paintbrushes. That meant that Sai was up to something and now, the eldest Uchiha could finally figure out what that was!

"Good." He smiles down at Itachi. "You ready to see your room?"

The baby just giggles and coos in response. Sasuke smiles. He was such a sweet little thing.

Honestly, it was hard to believe that he had come out of Anko's womb or that his DNA had contributed to making such an sweet angel, but the proof was written all over his face.

No one could look at Itachi and not realize that Sasuke was his father. Well one of his fathers. "I think that's a yes." Sai was the other, he muses as his lover opens to the door to the nursery and that's when Sasuke started screaming.

"Honestly, Kakashi, you need to stop being so suspicious." Orochimaru rolls his eyes at the other man. "I merely want to ensure that they're all alright."

Over his dead body, Kakashi thought to himself. He still couldn't believe that Sasuke had actually accepted the Sannin's help. Then again, it was equally surprising that Sai had agreed.

His eyes narrow at the Sannin. "They're likely still recovering. Childbirth isn't easy on anyone." Not even ninjas like Anko. "And I don't want you going to the hospital and traumatizing everyone there!"

Which is what would happen, if Orochimaru did go to the hospital and they both knew it. One look at the ashen faced man and a panic would erupt. It would be nothing short of a disaster!

"Well of course, I wasn't going to go to the hospital." He shakes his head at Kakashi as if he was disappointed by the other man's foolishness. "I was going to wait until they were back in their home and then visit." He smiles at him brightly as Kabuto walks in.

This was ridiculous. It was bad enough that he had to deal with Orochimaru, but now Kabuto was involved? The thought was enough to make Kakashi's blood want to boil over with rage. This was the height of insanity and they all knew it!

The other silver haired man smiles at him. "Don't worry, Lord Kakashi." Oh Kakashi was worried. "I will go with him and make sure that nothing scandalous happens."

This causes the CopyCat Ninja to raise an eyebrow. "And that's supposed to make me feel better?" He didn't see how!

Kabuto nods at him and Kakashi groans. Why did this always happen to him?! Why couldn't anything ever be simple in this village?!

"It's private property." He sighs heavily. Not liking the fact that there was very little he could do to stop them from going there without challenging them to combat. "So it is up to Sai and Sasuke, if they wish to allow you inside. If they do not and you press though, I won't hold it against them if they use force to expel you from their household." He'd probably encourage it, really.

Orochimaru smirks at that. "Exactly. We'll we shall be seeing you later then. The medical supplies are ready when you need them." And with that, he and Kabuto depart, leaving behind a very distressed Hokage.

* * *

"…" Sasuke was speechless as he looked around the nursery.

It was a very nice nursery and had everything that little Itachi would need. There was just one problem. Sai had made the paintings on the wall a smidge too exotic to be entirely appropriate.

Well more accurately, erotic. "Sai!" He couldn't believe this!

Well he could believe it, but he couldn't at the same time! Honestly, the other man should have known better than this! What was the matter with him?!

"You don't like them?" Sai looks at Sasuke in confusion as he places their son in his crib. "You've always loved my paintings before though!"

He honestly didn't see the problem?! Dear Gods and Goddesses, give him strength! Sasuke loved Sai with all his heart, but sometimes there was a limit to how much naivety the eldest surviving Uchiha could take!

Sasuke liked the paintings though. "My liking them isn't the issue!" It was the fact that about half of them consisted of him or Sai naked! With accurate representations of well _everything!_

"Then what's the problem?" Sai smiles pleasantly as he makes sure that Itachi was comfortable.

Itachi was currently giggling as if there was no tomorrow. He was happy because he had just been fed and had been given lots of attention. Fortunately, Anko was more than happy to give them lots of milk that they could bottle for him and if things got bad enough, they could always give Itachi formula.

Of course that was only in the most extreme emergencies in Sasuke's mind. Formula had come a long way and it was more than adequate to ensure that a child got its basic nutritional needs met, but in the eldest Uchiha's mind there was nothing like the real thing! Call him old fashioned, if you wanted!

Sasuke twitches at his lover. "He's a baby, Sai." Sai nods as if he still didn't understand what the problem was.

"Yes, of course." He chuckles. "Don't worry, Itachi will get bigger in no time. They always say that kids grow up fast." The artist tilts his head in confusion. "Of course, I'm still not sure who this mythical they is, but still."

Sasuke smacks his forehead. His husband apparently didn't understand why it was inappropriate to put erotic paintings up in a nursery! What was he supposed to do with him? Really?

"Nevermind about that, Sai." It didn't matter who _they_ was. "Just take down the paintings that didn't have clothes on them." He'd just have to make this simple for now.

Gods and Goddesses help them all, if someone walked in and saw those paintings. He would never live it down. So naturally, that's exactly what happened.

"Oh I don't know." A familiar voice is heard hissing in amusement. "I would say they're rather well done. Very sensual and tasteful." Damn it!

Someone up there really hated him, Sasuke decides! Orochimaru and Kabuto were here now and they had seen the damn paintings! Could his life get anymore humiliating?!

* * *

Elsewhere Jugo was out shopping. He may not have been the most academic man, but he did possess far more common sense than the average ninja. This became readily apparent to a shopkeeper when the large man enters his store and asks for earplugs.

"Why do you need earplugs?" He tilts his head in amusement. "Though of course, I can sell them to you." Keita assures him.

Keita was the shopworn. The graying man with chocolate brown eyes was now in his sixties and because he had lived in the Leaf Village all his life, he was used to getting unusual requests. Though this one seemed particularly strange.

Jugo laughs and shakes his head. "Sasuke Uchiha and Sai are having a baby." He pauses and adds. "And so are Naruto Uzumaki and Suigetsu Hozuki. If you thought their weddings were loud, that was nothing."

Oh yes, Keita did remember those weddings indeed. Both of them were so loud, that you could hear them for miles around. It didn't matter whether or not you personally attended them to some extent. Something about kunais and paintbrushes. He still didn't understand it for the life of him!

"Well in that case, I see your point." The shopkeeper laughs as he gets out several boxes of earplugs. "It seems that we're all going to need a lot of these. I should probably stock up on them!" He'd make a fortune!

Goodness only knows how loud things were about to get if Suigetsu and Naruto were really having a child. Keita didn't understand it himself, but apparently Orochimaru had found a way to make such a thing possible. For two men or two women to sire a child together using their own DNA with the help of a surrogate.

He didn't understand the details and frankly, Keita didn't want to. Though he was happy for the couples who had been given this option. Frankly, the Leaf Village was still in shock about the whole thing and he imagined that was largely the case throughout the Five Great Nations as well!

"Yes, it would be a wise move to stock up on them." Jugo nods in agreement.

The gentle giant could be a surprisingly practical ninja, Keita notes. There were definitely times when he wondered what in the world the man had been doing as a Sound Ninja in the first place, still he bites his tongue and smiles as he makes the sale.

"Come again soon and have a nice day!" It was none of his business.

Jugo nods and smiles at him. "Thanks. I will. Now, I just have to make sure the whole village isn't burnt down by Sasuke and Sai getting overly anxious about Itachi."

Keita blinks That didn't make any sense. Itachi Uchiha was dead! He was sure of it!

"Why would they be anxious about a dead man?" He looks at Jugo in an utterly perplexed way.

Jugo laughs as he heads towards the door. "Oh not that Itachi." He smiles at him. "Sai and Sasuke are naming their son after Sasuke's brother." And with that, he leaves the very bewildered shopkeeper behind.

"He's naming his son after his brother?" Keita blinks. "Ninjas are crazy!"

The elderly man was suddenly very glad that he was a civilian. It appeared that there were literally no sane ninjas past the age of say twelve or thirteen. It was a bit scary, really. Though that was just another day in the Hidden Leaf!

* * *

Sai glares at Orochimaru as he swiftly takes down all of his beautiful erotic paintings of himself and Sasuke. The last thing he wanted was for the Sannin to get an eyeful. Unfortunately, it appeared that he was far too late to prevent such a thing!

"Orochimaru, what are you doing here?" His husband looked less than pleased by their sudden appearance as well.

Kabuto laugh softly as though the answer should be obvious. "We just wanted to see how you were doing." He smiles. "How is the boy? After all, we do need to record his health information."

 _ **CRACK!**_ Almost before Sai could figure out what was happening, Sasuke had slammed Kabuto into the wall and a sickening crack was hard. His lover had obviously broken one of the medical ninja's bones! Maybe, several!

"He's perfectly healthy." Sasuke hisses at the other man as he holds a kunai by his throat. "And that's all that you need to know." He glares at Orochimaru. "So if you've got any ideas about conducting medical research on him, you can fuck off because I will slit both of your throats faster than you can blink, if you even think about it."

Sai nods in agreement. Like Hell was he going to let either of these freaks go near their precious baby boy! He'd send Orochimaru and Kabuto straight to Hell before any such thing ever happened!

"Sasuke, calm down." It was rather infuriating how calm the Sannin was being about this entire ordeal. "We have absolutely no intention of harming your child. Though it is heartwarming to witness such a display of parental love from you." He coos at the other ninja. "It's sweet really."

This man was utterly psychotic, Sai decides. He may have had issues unlocking his almost forgotten emotions, but it was the elderly ninja who belonged in at straightjacket! Orocohimaru was completely insane.

Sasuke's eyes were like daggers though. "I won't calm down." He looks at the innocent baby in the crib. "It's one thing for you to experiment on me, but I won't allow it on him. We're grateful for the help in his conception, but that is where it ends."

Kabuto didn't move a muscle. Sai couldn't blame the man. He was lucky to be alive at all. He knew very well what sort of things his lover was capable of on a good day and when Itachi was involved, well the artist shuttered at the mere thought of the savagery that the eldest Uchiha might inflict on someone to protect their only son.

"Well I imagine you'll want more than one child eventually and as we are the only ones who know how to much that Jutsu work, you'd be downgrading to regular surrogacy." Or not. "Is that what you want?"

Sasuke frown at that thought. Sai could tell that he was thinking it over. Damn. It looked like the other ninja might not kill these two dickless pricks!

"Well no." Sai did prefer the children having both their genes too. "But don't think that will stop me. If you even think about conducting your sick little experiments on him, I will kill you." Sasuke hisses.

Sai adds his own glare for good measure. It was important to get the point across. Those two were not to harm Itachi in any way or their nursery's white carpet would turn red. Blood red.

"And I shall help him." He'd ensure that the two of them died screaming. "I've learned a lot from my time in ROOT. I know how to make the both of you die screaming."

It wasn't a lie. The things that he had learned under Danzo's tutelage still gave him nighttimes sometimes. Fortunately, Sai had Sasuke. Sasuke was rather good at chasing his nightmares away and of course, he always tried to return the favor.

God and Goddesses knew that if anyone had reason to have nightmares, it was his husband. His wonderful husband who would obviously do anything for their son. Including killing Orochimaru…AGAIN!

"Well I can see that you need some time to bond as a family." Orochimaru smiles as he looks into the crib. "Such a handsome boy. Anko was a surprising choice, but I must say that I approve."

Sai hurls a kunai at Orochimaru. "We don't need your approval. Now get out. The only thing we need you for is if we choose to have more children!" That didn't mean that the freak had to be their Godfather or something. "NOW GET OUT!"

Sasuke nods in agreement as he gets off of Kabuto. "Go. If we want you here, we will send for you." And well, the medic wisely took off running along with Orochimaru.

Sai had to give them this much. The Dickless Wonders had strong survival instincts. It was just everything else about the two of them that bothered him.

"It was worth it to have Itachi in our lives, but I would prefer to keep our contact with them as minimal as possible." He scoffs.

Sasuke kisses him and smiles. "Don't worry. I feel exactly the same way." And Sai was dimly aware of Itachi cute little coos in the background as they kissed.

His husbands kisses always made things better. While Sasuke might never be a master painter, that didn't matter too much to him. The Uchiha Patriarch was certainly a master kisser and honestly, that was even better!


	13. Chapter 13

Kunais and Paintbrushes

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy the grand finale of _**Kunais and Paintbrushes**_ and feel free to check out my other stories, if you're interested. Oh and a special thanks to Sweet Villainess for coming up with the name Knockout Kiss Jutsu! (Well at least she was the first person that I ever saw using it anyway). Happy reading!

 **Chapter Notation:** This takes place 13 years after the last one.

Chapter 13

"You can do this, Itachi." Sai smiles pleasantly.

Today was a rather important event in his life. Their eldest son, who was named after his uncle Itachi, was participating in the Chunin Exams and it was his turn to enter the Arena. It was nerve-wracking, but Sai was trying his best to be a supportive parent.

Itachi smiles at him. "I know. Thanks, Father." His unusual eyes sparkling with determination.

Sai wasn't entirely sure when this was decided, but Itachi had labeled him as _Father_ and Sasuke was _Papa._ All their other children followed suit. In all, they had four children.

"You can do it, big brother!" Sachi smiles at her eldest brother.

Sasuke nods in agreement. "Yes, he can." She was their youngest daughter at the age of four and with those wavy midnight black locks, alabaster skin, and baby blue eyes it was hard to imagine a more adorable child in his mind.

In truth, all their children were adorable to Sai. No matter their gender or how old they got. Sachi had Sasuke's features, but his skin and hair color though.

Granted, it was rather difficult to distinguish between his hair color and Sasuke's, but he could. He was an artist after all.

Her name meant blissful and well she lived up to it. She might have been the youngest of the bunch, but she could a kunai the best out of all their children. Which was really saying something because their other children were quite excellent at throwing them.

"Thanks, Sachi." Itachi smiles at her.

"You're facing Nami." Mikoto looks at Itachi warily. "She's one of my best friends, but she can be pretty…sneaky."

Mikoto was their second child. At 11, she was almost ready to graduate the Academy herself. She was obviously named after Sasuke's mother.

Itachi shakes his head in amusement. "Thanks, but believe me, I know what Nami Hozuki is like." As unpredictable as the surfs and waves she was named after, Sai mentally adds.

"I'm still surprised that the loser gave her Suigetsu's last name." Sasuke laughs at the thought.

So was Sai, but he pawned it off to Naruto just being happy to have a bloodline. Last names didn't matter too much to him and Suigetsu seemed rather happy about sharing his name, so yeah.

"She's probably going to go for your eyes first." Mikoto continues.

She had Anko's lighter hair color, but it was pure silk and styled just like her grandmother's. Her eyes just as dark as the night sky like Sasuke's. Though her skin and facial features were more like himself.

Itachi nods. It was likely that he had already known that from the beginning. After all, he was an Uchiha. A smart person would target his greatest asset. His eyes.

"Yeah. I figured that much." He smiles at the Genjutsu User.

Mikoto's specialty was Genjutsu. Which was a bit ironic. Sai would have thought that would be more Itachi's thing, but while he was certainly skilled at it…his sister was a natural with the art.

Shin gives Itachi a thumbs up. "Knock em dead." At eight, he was their middle child.

Shin had been named after Sai's best friend. The man who had succumbed to illness and taught him about art. It was his way of honoring the fallen ninja.

He was also their most exotic child. With his snowy white, slightly tanned skin, and onyx eyes he stood out in any crowd. Though he had Sai's facial features.

"I will." Itachi grins as he heads out towards the Arena.

Despite his casual demeanor, Shin was the one who most took after Sasuke in abilities. He was making a Chidori by the time he was Sachi's age. And then, there was Itachi.

* * *

Meanwhile Naruto watches anxiously as Nami heads off to the Arena. To say the least, the Hokage was nervous as Hell. She was his only child, after all!

"Relax!" Suigetsu smiles at his husband. "She's total badass!" Well yeah, but still. That didn't meant that the blonde wasn't going to worry about their only kid going up against Itachi! (Well the second Itachi, anyway).

"Well at least we instituted the no lethal shots rule." Naruto sighs.

Things had changed a lot since his day. The blonde wasn't going to let anyone die on his watch, if he could help it. Self-Defense was one thing, but if your opponent gave up, you let them be.

Suigetsu nods and kisses his cheek. "Yeah. So don't worry so much." He grins at his husband. "She can handle herself."

The Hokage sighs and cuddles up to his lover. He sincerely hoped that Suigetsu was right. He couldn't imagine life without Nami in it.

"I still can't believe that you named her after waves." He rolls his eyes. "Is there anything that you won't turn into a pun?"

The violet haired man just laughs. "No. Nothing." He smirks as he grabs Naruto's ass. "Besides, don't lie. You like it and you know it."

The Hokage blushes at the ass grab. "You two need to get a room." Karin laughs as she strides over to them with Jugo at her side.

The gentle giant was carrying quite a lot of popcorn and drinks. It seemed like the husband and wife were enjoying one Hell of a date. Naruto didn't really know how the red head had hooked up with the giant, but he figured it was best not to ask too many questions in a situation like this.

There were some things that you truly didn't want to know. He had learned that the hard way. Being a ninja was very good for drilling that idea into one's head early on. (It had just taken a bit longer than usual for the message to sink through his thick skull as the Bastard was so fond of saying)!

"Funny." Naruto grins at them. "I was about to say the same for you too!"

Karin blushes at that, but Jugo recovers swiftly. "Alright. That's fair. So whose up first?" He looks over at the Arena. "Should be one Hell of a show. We've got a lot of interesting competitors this year!"

The sword lover shakes his head and points. "Nami and Itachi are facing off." He smirks seeming rather delighted at this possibility. "And this is going to be so cool to see Sasuke's kid lose to our princess!"

"Um yeah, I know she's a badass and everything, but it's a fifty-fifty shot, Suigetsu." Naruto laughs as he rubs the back of his head sheepishly.

Suigetsu shakes his head as if it was the most obvious thing in the world that their daughter was going to win. And well, considering it was Suigetsu that was probably the truth.

"She's got this." He smirks at Naruto. "Trust me. She's got this."

* * *

Nami walks into the Arena and smiles at Itachi. Well he wasn't going to be easy to beat, she thinks to herself as she fidgets with some of her long straight white hair. It was one of her nervous habits. She either fidgeted with her hair or swords.

"Don't worry." Itachi smiles at her. "I'll go easy on you. You're my sister's best friend." Oh he so did NOT just say that! "I don't want to hurt you."

"EVERYONE THE MATCH IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!" The announcer's voice blares across the stadium. "Itachi Uchiha the Second vs. Nami Hozuki!" The crowd was going absolutely bonkers and Nami knew why. They were expecting one Hell of a show.

That was only natural. Itachi was the son of Sasuke and Sai. She was the daughter of the Hokage and Suigetsu. Each of their fathers was an elite ninja. Anything less than an exceptional performance was likely going to earn them boos.

So she wasn't going to lose! There was no way she was going to let that happen!

"Funny!" She unsheathes her sword. "I was just about to say the same to you!"

Itachi smiles slyly and undoes his scroll and his paints. "Very well then." Yeah. That smile was why all the girls panted after him, of course he didn't notice or he pretended not to. "Lets give the crowd a good show then and I do apologize in advance for hurting you."

This guy was asking for it! She would show him who was boss! Believe it!

* * *

Elsewhere in the stands, Orochimaru watches curiously. He couldn't be prouder of Sasuke. In some ways, he really did feel like a proud grandfather.

"Lord Orochimaru, why are you crying?" Kabuto blinks as he looks at the legendary Sannin in confusion.

Why was he crying? Well it was just all so beautiful. After all these years, he was finally going to see the results of their medical experimentation!

"It's just that children grow up so quickly these days." His eyes sparkle with happiness. "It seems like only yesterday, Itachi was a baby and now, he's fighting in the Chunin Exams. It's truly a magical day." The elderly man smiles slyly. "Wouldn't you agree, Kabuto?"

Kabuto nods dumbly. "Yes, I agree, Lord Orochimaru." That was right.

How could this day be anything, but magical. Two of his greatest creations Itachi and Nami were going to face off against each other. One held the Hozuki bloodline and was fathered by the Hokage himself and the other held the Uchiha Bloodline and Sai's….versatility.

This was going to be quite the exciting match. It did surprise Orochimaru though that the proud fathers were so willing to let their children compete with each other. What didn't surprise him were their competitive spirits.

"Blustering starts at such an early age." He chuckles.

Of course, he had been the same way once as a child. Now as an adult, he preferred to get down to business. Though that did vary from ninja to ninja. Some preferred to brag more than others.

* * *

Itachi waits for the match to begin. "ALRIGHT, BEGIN! The winner will be whoever knocks out their opponent or whoever is yielded to!" He hears the announcer shout.

"Take this! Water bullets!" Nami cries out as she shoots the bullets at him.

Damn it! She wasn't aiming for vital spots, but those things could hurt a lot. He was going to have to dodge and put up a shield.

So that's exactly what Itachi does as he dodges and quickly draws a wall of earth. "Earth Shield!" The bullets wouldn't be able to penetrate that or if they did, he'd have enough time to dodge them.

"Not bad." Nami smirks. "But you'll have to do better than that!" She jumps over the wall and brandishes her sword at him.

He really should have seen the sword thing coming. So he did what his Papa would do in this situation. He radiates a Chidori along his body.

"Try to hit me and you'll get electrocuted." It seemed only fair to warn her. "Think you can stand the voltage?"

Nami glares at him. "I can handle anything that you've got!" She suddenly forms a lot of Shadow Clones.

Uh oh. This wasn't good. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" The only way to really combat that was by making clones of his own.

Now the clones were fighting each other and he was trying to dodge Nami's sword. She was lethal with that thing. She really took after Suigetsu in a lot of ways. Though she had mastered Naruto's ability to spam clones like nobody's business. He was just lucky that she couldn't produce a Rasengan yet.

* * *

Sasuke watches the match anxiously. Of course, he knew that Itachi was more than capable of handling himself. It was just that Itachi was his son. It was only natural to worry.

Sachi smiles at him. "Don't worry, Papa!" Such a sweet smile. "Itachi will be okay!"

"That's right." He scoops her up onto his back piggyback style. "Your brother will be fine. I'm just being a silly Papa." Sasuke smiles at the little girl on his back.

Sai chuckles as he watches them. It was more likely than not that he was already planning on capturing the moment on canvas. After all, that's what Sai did when he saw a particularly cute family moment.

Shin watches his brother fight and Sasuke smiles. Their children were all remarkably close. Which made him happy.

His youngest son might not idolize Itachi in the way that he had his own brother, but obviously Shin did look up to him. That was good. It gave him something to aspire to without making him feel inferior.

"That's a lot of Shadow Clones." Mikoto blinks.

Yes, that was a lot of Shadow Clones. Of course, Sasuke hadn't expected anything less from the Loser's daughter. It was only fitting that she would rely at least partially on one of his trademark techniques.

Time in the Leaf seemed to operate in a circular pattern. Each generation mirrored the last to a certain extent. Sometimes to a rather disturbing degree at that, but the Uchiha Patriarch was done questioning it. That was just part of what it meant to be a Leaf Villager, he supposed.

Sasuke nods at his eldest daughter's brilliant observation. "Yeah. This could get ugly." He sighs as he watches with the worried eyes of a parent.

* * *

"What a match!" The announcer's voice blares across the stadium once more. "These two Genin are giving it everything they've got!"

Nami frowns. He was good, but she didn't really want to hurt him and she knew that Itachi didn't want to hurt her. That was the only way that one of them was going to win this match though.

Well that or she'd have to take some rather unorthodox methods to end this fight. "AHHH!" She pretends to fall.

She knew the eldest Uchiha Kid. He'd come a running. He had chivalry or some B.S. like that ingrained into his psyche. It was weird!

"WHAT'S THIS?! It looks like Nami must have taken a hit!" Ha! Hardly, but whatever. "Nami, remember you can yield at any time!" Never gonna happen, but again…whatever!

Itachi took the bait, like the cute sucker that he indeed was. "Nami, are you okay?" He leans down to check on her.

She almost felt guilty about this. Well almost. He was pretty cute and honestly, if he fell for the oldest trick in the book, Itachi kinda deserved it. He was supposed to be a genius!

Wait. She was getting off track here! "Yeah. Now that you're here." He gives her a confused look, but Nami didn't let him voice whatever questions might be running through his head because she preemptively silences them with a kiss.

She was surprised when he actually started kissing back, but this was nice. A little awkward because neither of them seemed to know what to do with their noses or teeth, but still nice. He had really soft lips and damn it, he was distracting her again!

"Damn it!" She mutters as she knocks him out. "You're way too good at that." She shakes her head.

"I don't believe this folks!" The announcer sounds stunned. "It seems that Nami Hozuki has triumphed in this match thanks to the Knockout Kiss Jutsu!" The crowd was torn between laughter and just gaping.

Luckily, Itachi woke up and looks dazed for a moment, before he gets up. "…" He tilts his head. "Well you kissed me so I guess that makes you my girlfriend." He smiles and scoops her up bridal style. "So did you wanna go out for Ramen?" Itachi smiles at her. "I know you like Ramen."

Well she did like Ramen. Nami wasn't really trying to get a boyfriend, but he was cute and a good kisser. That and he was also a good sport. Most boys would have been made about that trick.

"Sure. Ramen sounds good!" She smiles as she is carried off.

"Well…I guess that's an excellent display of sportsmanship?" The announcer couldn't help, but feel slightly bewildered.

* * *

Several hours later, Sasuke glares at Naruto. The loser had gone way too far this time. He was going to settle this once and for all!

"Look! It was your daughter who kissed my son!" Not the other way around! "So don't look at me that way!" Itachi was innocent! Ish…

Naruto glares right back at Sasuke. "Well he was the one who carried her off like they just got married!" Well yeah, but that was after she kissed him.

Sai and Suigetsu were both watching them argue, but that was nothing new. What was new was watching his husband twitch. Sai never twitched like that!

"Naruto, your daughter started it. So with all due respect Lord Hokage, I guess we will just have to get used to the fact we'll likely be in-laws one day and can you please get out of our house?!" Sai twitches more. "The kids are safe and sound and that's what matters most!"

Suigetsu just laughs his ass off. "Well I guess we know who wears the pants in this family." Which makes Sasuke twitch instead.

"Sai, you wanna practice your naked paintings again?" He glances at his husband. "Naked portraits of the Lord Hokage and his husband. Without their kunais?" Sasuke smirks.

He loved his husband. His husband was an amazing lover, father, and artist. Though it was Sai's last skill that was going to come in handy in this particular situation.

"What?!" Naruto gapes at Sasuke. "You're not serious! Tell me that you're not serious, Bastard!"

Sai smirks at the flabbergasted Hokage. "Oh he's serious." Delighting in the blonde's episode. "Let me go get my paint."

Suigetsu blinks and grabs Naruto's arm. Suddenly, Sai was doing his best not to burst out laughing. This was absolutely priceless. No wonder, Sasuke fought with Naruto so much. It was amusing.

"Um right." He looks at his husband. "Lets get the Hell out of here before they do something crazy." Suigetsu demands as he drags a flailing Hokage off.

* * *

"Well that worked like a charm." Sasuke smirks.

Thankfully, their children were sleeping because Sasuke felt like it was time to celebrate scaring off the Hokage Family and their eldest son getting his first girlfriend. This was going to be fun.

"Sasuke, why are you smirking like that?" Sai tilts his head in confusion.

The Uchiha Patriarch's smirk only grew and he was sure that his lover didn't know, if he should be excited or terrified. Which always made things more fun.

One of the most important things in a happy marriage was variety. Well at least in Sasuke's mind. There were of course classics that every couple had, but it was important to keep an artistic mind like Sai's from getting bored.

"You'll see." He smiles at Sai slyly as he heads upstairs to their bedroom.

A bored Sai was a dangerous Sai. Sasuke wouldn't put it past his husband to do something absolutely crazy when he got bored. Like drawing kunais all over the Hokage Mountain and he wasn't talking about the metallic ones!

Sai follows him as Sasuke knew that his husband would. He smiles and performs a Soundproofing Jutsu around their room, before locking the door after Sai. They had learned that lesson the hard way.

"No reason to traumatize the children further." He kisses Sai happily. "Remember what happened last time?"

It was safe to say that Itachi and Mikoto had both already received the talk about Kunais and Pouches. (That and kunais and paintbrushes and pouches and pouches, just in case). Their eldest children had overheard their lovemaking one night and walked in concerned for their safety.

Needless to say, they had both gotten an eyeful. Both of them were traumatized and had a lot of questions. Though Sasuke wasn't sure who was more scarred by the ordeal. Them or well him and Sai!

"Mmm that's true." Sai smiles happily at his husband, after returning his kiss.

Sai really as such a good kisser, Sasuke muses. He could never get enough of his husband's kissers. That or his other more erotic touches. Not to mention the things that man could do with his mouth were utterly incredible and…he was getting a bit distracted.

Sasuke smiles as he pushes Sai on the bed and begins to undo his shirt. "Do you remember what you first told me about kunais and paintbrushes?" He smiles at his lover.

"Well not really." Sai shakes his head innocently. "I have said a lot to you about those topics over the years." He smirks.

Well that was very true. Their Honeymoon in particular had been a rather spectacular occasion. Though that wasn't the point.

Sasuke slyly grabs his lovers clothed arousal and starts stroking him. "A paintbrush is like a kunai." He strokes him more. "You have to know what you want to do with it, grip it properly, apply the right amount of pressure, and know when to release it to use it effectively." Obviously, kunai in this context had more than one meaning.

Sai groans in pleasure and smiles. "Ah. That's true." He smirks at that.

"I did say that. I'm so glad that you remember your art lessons with such stunning detail."

Sasuke smiles kisses him. "Well I had a very good teach." And he smiles when Sai returns it.

"And I had a very sexy Uchiha, who I made my husband and the father of my children." Sai smiles as he caresses his cheek. "I love you and I'm so glad that Kakashi sent me too you."

Sasuke smiles at that. "Me too." He pauses and smirks. "I should send him some kunais and paintbrushes for his birthday. Do you think he'd get the reference?"

"I doubt it." Sai laughs as he snuggles close to Sasuke and turns off the light. "Which just makes it even more amusing. Perhaps we should send him an erotic painting instead!"

Sasuke rolls his eyes as he rests his head on Sai's chest. "No. Never going to happen. We're not sending him an erotic painting." His husband made a damn sexy pillow t hough.

"Alright. Alright." Sai laughs. "Kakashi doesn't need the erotic paintings, but we can always add a few more to our collection."

Now, THAT sounded like a good idea. Maybe, he should give his lover some inspiration for a new painting. Just as long as the kids didn't see it.

"That I can go along with." He kisses Sai.

The rest of the night passed in a blur of heated moans, passionate kisses, and tangled limbs and once again, Sasuke was reminded of just how damn useful the Soundproofing Jutsu really was. This was especially true, when you had a sexy husband like Sai with a very large kunai!


End file.
